Chiefs’ Travis Kelce not thinking about retirement: ‘I have no desire to stop anytime soon’

The passion to play remains inside Travis Kelce, which is why the Kansas City Chiefs tight end shook off talk about retiring after this season, his 11th in the NFL

“I have no reason to stop playing football, man. I love it,” Kelce told reporters Thursday. “We still have success. Come in with the right mindset, and I just love the challenge that it gives me every single day to try and be at my best. And like I said, I have no desire to stop anytime soon.”

While Kelce had a down year by his standards after seven straight 1,000-yard seasons, he remains a key offensive weapon for Patrick Mahomes.

The retirement talk comes from a June Vanity Fair profile of the 34-year-old Kelce in which he spoke about setting up his post-football life. He has been in plenty of commercials this NFL season, he co-hosts a podcast with his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, he hosted “Saturday Night Live” last year, and he blew up in the realm of pop culture this fall with his relationship with Taylor Swift.

Kelce has a lot going on outside the game, but should the Chiefs lose Saturday night’s wild-card game against the Miami Dolphins — potentially one of the coldest the NFL has ever seen — he says it won’t be his last. He said he will see out his contract, which runs through the 2025 season.

“I’ve been fortunate to do a few things outside of the sports world that I’ve been enjoying doing, like getting on camera,” Kelce said. “The [‘Saturday Night Live’] stuff kind of opened up a new happiness and maybe a new career path for me.

“But it’s funny for me to even say that at this point in my career. I think it’s so much further down the road than it is right now.”

It has been a different year for the Chiefs, one Kelce described as “a different journey.” They finished 11-6, their highest loss total since 2017, and did not look like the explosive teams of the past. Their focus now is adding a third Super Bowl ring.

“I think, without a doubt, I’m thinking more Super Bowls when I talk legacy and just having that desire to be a certain type of teammate day in and day out and having to channel in that right mindset for sure,” he said.