Kansas City Chiefs superstar Travis Kelce has suggested there are no plans for this to be his last season in the NFL.
Kelce is set to line up for his 12th year in the NFL as the Chiefs chase an unprecedented third-straight Super Bowl.
However, the 34-year-old has recently branched out further into his off-field ventures.
He hosted Saturday Night Live in March last year and is set to star alongside Adam Sandler in the upcoming ‘Happy Gilmore’ sequel.
Kelce also inked a £75million, three-year deal with Amazon for the ‘global distribution rights’ to his podcast New Heights, which he shares with his older brother and former NFL star, Jason.
The brothers launched their podcast in 2022 and it is now the most popular sports podcast in the United States.
The tight end also skyrocketed in popularity outside of football when he began dating pop megastar Taylor Swift, with Kelce even appearing on stage during one of her concerts at Wembley in July.
With his off-field empire booming, many have speculated if Kelce is looking to wind down his NFL career.
Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, Kelce was asked straight-up whether this could be his last season.
“Man, I tell you what, I’m still enjoying coming to work,” Kelce said.
“I’m not dreading practices. I had my guy Julian Edelman jump on ‘New Heights’ with me and my brother last year. He was mentioning he had to hang it up when he couldn’t go out there and practice. When he couldn’t go out there and work on his craft to feel like he’s accountable for the guys next to him, that’s when he started questioning it.
“I’m just having so much fun. So appreciative, so fortunate that I’ve been able to come in to year 12 and still have this energy and this love and the ability to go out there and get to work.”
Eisen also asked whether the thought of retirement ever crossed Kelce’s mind after winning last season’s Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49yers.
Kelce said he never once had the thought, pointing out the chance to make history was a perfect reason to stick around for another season.
“It didn’t cross my mind one bit,” Kelce said.
“I think the excitement of the challenge this year, being able to do it a third time in a row, I think that alone was all I needed to come back.
“It was never really a chance I wasn’t coming back this year.”
Kelce enters the 2024 season after a campaign in which he recorded his lowest average yards per catch in his career.
The tight end hauled in 93 receptions for 984 yards at an average of 10.6 yards per catch.
Kelce also recorded just five touchdowns, his fewest since 2019 and a far cry from his 12, nine and 11 touchdowns in the 2022, 2021 and 2020 seasons respectively.
However, the arrival of wide receivers Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown and Xavier Worthy could help prevent Kelce from being double-teamed by opposition defenders and help him return to form.
