{"id":153937,"date":"2025-03-05T11:43:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T11:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/05\/travis-kelce-breaks-down-his-decision-to-return-for-13th-nfl-season\/"},"modified":"2025-03-05T11:43:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T11:43:18","slug":"travis-kelce-breaks-down-his-decision-to-return-for-13th-nfl-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/05\/travis-kelce-breaks-down-his-decision-to-return-for-13th-nfl-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Travis Kelce Breaks Down His Decision to Return for 13th NFL Season"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n Travis Kelce<\/span> Michael Owens\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Travis Kelce<\/strong><\/a> is giving fans more insight into his decision to play another season<\/a> with the Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n

During the Wednesday, March 5, episode of \u201cNew Heights\u201d \u2014 cohosted by his brother, Jason Kelce<\/strong> \u2014 Travis, 35, opened up about why he didn\u2019t think it was the right time to retire.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest thing is that I f\u2014ing love playing the game of football,\u201d he explained. \u201cI love playing, I still feel like I can play at a high level. And possibly at a higher level than I did last year, I don\u2019t think it was my best outing. I let my guys down in a lot more moments than I helped them, especially if you look at my track record and how I\u2019ve been in years past. I just, you know, I wanna give it a good run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Travis said he has \u201ca bad taste in my mouth\u201d after last season, adding, \u201cI love so many people in Kansas City \u2026 it\u2019s home for me now. I don\u2019t wanna leave that life yet. I put in a lot of hard work and I put in a lot of focus into being the best that I can for KC and last year it didn\u2019t end well for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like there\u2019s a responsibility in me to play out the contract that I initially signed, to give Kansas City and the Chiefs organization everything that I got, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m gonna do, man,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jason, 37, joked that his own 2024 retirement<\/a> swayed Travis in the other direction before asking for more details about his decision-making process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s similar to all the other decisions I make, it\u2019s just off of feel. I\u2019m not a big measure the pros and cons [person] and all that. I just go off of feel, pure gut feeling. And I f\u2014ing love this game, man,\u201d Travis said. \u201cAnd not only that, I love going into the building with the guys that are there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head coach Andy Reid<\/strong> played into the decision as well. \u201cCoach Reid has been one of the biggest influences on my life, not just in the game of football. And I don\u2019t wanna stop going to work with him, I don\u2019t wanna stop learning from him. I don\u2019t wanna stop being the reason why he has success or being part of the reason he has success,\u201d Travis continued. \u201cI want that guy to have the most success in the world because of who he\u2019s been in my life, and that\u2019s the same with Pat<\/strong> [Mahomes<\/strong>]. \u2026 I wanna keep living out those dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes<\/span> David Eulitt\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speculation swirled about Travis\u2019 NFL future last month after the Chiefs lost Super Bowl LIX to the Philadelphia Eagles. The defeat capped off an underwhelming season for Travis, who previously declared that he didn\u2019t pay attention to commentary about his stats. During the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans, Travis only made four catches for 39 yards \u2014 his worst Super Bowl performance to date.<\/p>\n

Travis spoke candidly about his mindset post-Super Bowl<\/a> during a February episode of \u201cNew Heights,\u201d revealing that he wasn\u2019t ready to be \u201cmaking any crazy decisions.\u201d He said on Wednesday that losing the Super Bowl \u201cwas probably the biggest factor\u201d in his choice to come back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never once kinda second-guessed it, it was always in the back of my mind,\u201d he explained. \u201cEven when it got tough last year on the body or when it got tough after the Super Bowl, you know, you\u2019re at your all-time low. There\u2019s just something in a motivating factor that you can do this and you wanna do this. I pulled the trigger as soon as I had that feeling. \u2026 I can\u2019t say whether or not this is going to be the last year because I still love a lot of what I do for the city of Kansas City and the Chiefs organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Patrick Mahomes Responds to News of Travis Kelce\u2019s NFL Return Next Season<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tThe reverberations of Travis Kelce\u2019s announcement that he\u2019d be returning to the field next season were felt throughout Chiefs Kingdom.\u00a0 News broke that Kelce, 35, was kicking the retirement can down the road on the Thursday, February 27, episode of ESPN\u2019s The Pat McAfee Show, when McAfee, 37, read a text live on-air from the [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Chiefs reportedly gave Travis a deadline of March 14 to inform them of his plans for next season, and he made the call with time to spare. Pat McAfee<\/strong> revealed on the Thursday, February 26, episode of ESPN\u2019s The Pat McAfee Show<\/em> that he received a text from Travis that read, \u201cMy dawg!!! I\u2019m coming back for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The text continued: \u201cI\u2019m gonna try to get to the best shape I\u2019ve been this offseason and get back to the mountaintop. Got a real bad taste in my mouth with how I played in that last game and how I got the guys ready for battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

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