1. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce opened up about the possibility of retirement on the latest episode of New Heights.
“I’m gonna take some time to figure it out,” said Kelce. “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.”
If the future Hall of Famer isn’t motivated to play and calls it quits, he will be the subject of one of the most intense bidding wars that we’ve ever seen in sports television.
Kelce isn’t going to come away with $375 million like Tom Brady, but his payday will be large and significant. And the fight for his services will be intense. It’s a no-brainer to say that CBS, Fox, Amazon, ESPN, NBC and NFL Network would love to get in the Travis Kelce business.
You just know that people at those networks are already coming up with some lame segment titled, “Travis Kelce’s ‘All Right, All Right Nows’ of the Week.”
The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand recently reported that ESPN is somehow paying Jason Kelce $6 million per season to appear on its Monday Night Football pregame show.
Given Travis’s popularity and girlfriend, it wouldn’t be hard to see him get close to $10 million per year for his services.
Now, I know what many of you reading this are saying to yourselves right now. “I’m sick of the Chiefs. I’m sick of Travis Kelce. I’m sick of all the Kelces.”
Guess what? The networks that air NFL programming don’t care about you. They care about their brands, advertisers and coming off as cool.
Much like Fox making Brady not just an analyst, but an ambassador for the network as well, Kelce would likely be in a similar TV role.
Whichever network hires him won’t do it solely for his work on a studio show. The network will be going into the Travis Kelce Business and all that comes with it, including his relationship with Taylor Swift, enormously successful podcast and top-notch Q rating.
If Kelce chooses to walk away from the playing field, his television free-agency saga will be more fascinating than any players’ this offseason.
2. This clip is notable for two things. One, Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley reveal that they don’t call it Tush Push or Brotherly Shove. They have another nickname for their fourth-and-1 play. But because Jimmy Fallon is a terrible interviewer, he didn’t bother to find out the real name.
Two, Fallon’s reaction when Barkley explains his role is to "push the tush" in the Tush Push shows why Fallon is unwatchable as host of The Tonight Show.
.@saquon is the “pusher” for @JalenHurts’ “tush” 😭 @Eagles #FallonTonight #SBLIX #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/3o5Ql2Wc3u
— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) February 12, 2025
3. On Monday, Fox said 126 million people watched the Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl. The network released updated numbers on Tuesday that look like this:
- The game drew a record-setting average audience of 127.7 million viewers.
- The halftime show starring Kendrick Lamar drew an average of 133 million viewers.
- Super Bowl LIX was the most-watched Super Bowl ever on a streaming platform with Tubi delivering an average, per-minute audience of 13.6 million.
Two takeaways: I had no idea what Tubi was until about a week before the Super Bowl when Fox kept sending press releases to announce the game would air on the streaming service.
It’s amazing that the collective reaction I’ve seen to the Chiefs-Eagles viewership number has been, “I don’t believe it. There’s no way that’s accurate.”
4. It would’ve been nice to get a little more of this Tom Brady in the booth this past season.
5. After the disaster that was the New York Giants last season, this is the least surprising news ever.
This isn’t a definitive report but in talking to league and media folks this past week it sounds like no team wants anything to do with an “Offseason Hard Knocks” this summer and it may be a one-and-done.
— Tom Rock (@TomRock_Newsday) February 12, 2025
Hard to imagine why.
6. A brand-new episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped Monday. Puck’s John Ourand joined me to review Fox's Super Bowl broadcast.
How did Tom Brady do in his first Super Bowl in the booth? What were Brady's best and worst moments? Can Brady be judged fairly as an analyst?
Other topics discussed include the bizarre Jimmy Johnson tribute segment during the pregame show, the commercials, a weird moment between Brady and rules analyst Mike Periera and more.
We also discuss future Super Bowls that will air on NBC and ESPN and whether Brady will be around for Fox's next Super Bowl in four years. In addition, Ourand shares insight on what could happen in 2029 when the NFL has the option to opt out of its television deals with CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN and Amazon.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Saturday Night Live is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a three-hour special this Sunday night on NBC. I’ve seen a ton of old-school SNL clips on social media the past couple of weeks as NBC promotes the special, so I’m going to feature some of the best ones here the rest of the week. If this sketch doesn’t make you laugh, I don’t know what to tell you.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Travis Kelce Could Be the Biggest Sports Media Free Agent Ever.
