Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce remains uncertain on whether he will return to play football next season, or if he will call it a career and retire. Kelce addressed his uncertain future on the latest episode of the New Heights Show, saying he plans to take some time to make his decision.
“I’m gonna take some time to figure it out,” said Kelce during the episode posted Wednesday. “And I think I owe it to my teammates that if I do come back that it’s gonna be a wholehearted decision and I’m not half-assing it, and I’m fully here for them. I think I can play, it’s just whether or not I’m motivated or it’s the best decision for me as a man, as a human, as a person to take on all that responsibility.”
Though Kelce has yet to make a decision, several members of the Chiefs organization feel in their "gut" that Kelce will retire. NFL reporter James Palmer spoke to multiple people on the Chiefs before the Super Bowl. Both acknowledged that Kelce has not said anything to indicate that he is leaning toward retirement, but they feel "this is it."
"I contacted a couple of people in the organization Sunday morning," Palmer told Kay Adams on the Up & Adams show. "I wanted to know about the speeches, and they were like, 'Well Travis cried, but he cried last year.' I was trying to get a gage on his speech to the team on Saturday night, and I was like, 'What's your gut?' And they were both like, 'my gut tells me this is it, but he hasn't said anything in either direction to anybody here. We know he really loves coming to work. We know he actually really enjoys being here in the building.'"
"My gut tells me this is IT."@JamesPalmerTV heard from inside the #Chiefs organization about Travis Kelce's future 😳@heykayadams @Chiefs | #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/dJigP5IXvs
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) February 12, 2025
Palmer continued, "But he mentioned that one part where he was like, 'I don't want to half-ass it at all.' He practices as hard as anybody. He feels like if he doesn't practice hard and practice that way, he's not giving everything to the team and giving everything to himself. The people in the building believe he has lost a step. They still believe he can completely play. There's so much on the other side as well. There's a lot really on his shoulders in what's next. Do you keep playing because it's what you know?This is a massive decision, and it's a massive decision for the future of the organization. Tyreek Hill leaving was one thing, this is a completely other thing for Patrick [Mahomes] and Andy Reid."
If Kelce does retire, he is already set to go down as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, tight ends of all time. Kelce is a three-time Super Bowl champion, four-time first team All-Pro, holds numerous NFL regular season and postseason records and is a future Hall of Famer.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Several Members of Chiefs Organization Reportedly Believe Travis Kelce Will Retire.
