Travis Kelce is ‘only interested in Super Bowl rings.' Next up? The chase for No. 4

New York Times

4 hours ago

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After it was over, he sat and steamed. He let the disappointment soak in. He listened to music, including his girlfriend's. (You've heard of her.) He weighed, however briefly, a future without football.
Losing a Super Bowl is one thing, but losing a Super Bowl like that? Travis Kelce needed some time. He needed some space. More than anything, he needed to decide if he was willing to pour himself into everything it would take to climb all the way back.
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The guilt pressed against him, and in some ways, it still does.
'I feel like I failed my guys,' the Kansas City Chiefs tight end said Wednesday after the team's second minicamp practice, the first time Kelce has addressed reporters since Kansas City's 40-22 beatdown in Super Bowl LIX.
It wasn't merely his lack of production that night — four catches for 39 yards, including a long of just 13 — but the little things he didn't do, the things Kelce has built his Hall of Fame-worthy career on. He didn't get open enough, he acknowledged. He whiffed on blocking assignments. He didn't have the right attention to detail, especially against a defensive front as unforgiving and unrelenting as the Philadelphia Eagles'. He also didn't pick up his teammates on the sideline the way he has so many times throughout his 12-year run with the Chiefs.
The juice just wasn't there. Kelce blames himself.
So of course it stung, not simply the loss but the way it unfolded. The Chiefs were chasing history, trying to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to win three straight, and they were smacked around for three hours. Their counterpunch came only after the game had been long decided.
'We haven't played that bad all year,' Kelce said in a somber postgame locker room inside the New Orleans Superdome.
He hadn't played that bad all year, either, but that's not to say he had a banner season. In 2024, Kelce finished with career lows — not counting his rookie season, when he played just one game — in receiving yards (823) and touchdowns (three). He was 35 years old and looked every bit of it. After dicing up the Houston Texans in the divisional round for 117 yards and a touchdown, a rare outburst that revved a raucous crowd at Arrowhead dreaming of a third straight championship, he was a nonfactor in the AFC title game and Super Bowl.
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His age was showing. His production had dipped. It was fair to wonder and fair to ask: Was Travis Kelce finished?
In the days and weeks after the season ended, even he wasn't sure. On the first post-Super Bowl episode of his 'New Heights' podcast with his brother, Jason, Travis was noncommittal about returning in 2025.
'Jason, the only way you can find yourself in the light is to find yourself in the dark first,' he said.
He was still processing. His close friend and quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, resisted the urge to reach out. He knew his top target needed to make this call on his own.
'I don't ever press guys on stuff like that,' Mahomes said. 'I just give them space and let them make that decision on their own because you don't want to have regret either way.'
In the back of his mind, Kelce knew it wasn't just about making it back to the Super Bowl but the long road required to get there. Did he want to start training again in March? Did he want to spend August under the stifling summer sun at training camp, then the next four months grinding through a 17-game regular season?
Slowly, he let his emotions die down. As he did, the more he kept coming back to that night in New Orleans.
'I really didn't feel like it was my last game,' he said.
In the end, the decision came easily. Deep down, he knew he couldn't go out like that.
'I still feel like I had that fire in my chest to keep coming in and building and be better and chase another Super Bowl.'
To do so, Kelce has altered his offseason training plan: He'll enter 2025 slimmer than last season. It's by design. He wouldn't reveal a number and shot down a recent report that he was down 25 pounds, but make no mistake: He's seeking more speed this season.
'This year, I got some time to really focus on some form running and some things early on in the offseason that I just didn't have time for last year,' he said. 'Certainly, I'm feeling good, and I think it will pay off.'
He was his usual self across the first two days of the Chiefs' mandatory minicamp this week, slipping through the defense, snagging passes from Mahomes in heavy traffic, then darting upfield after catches.
Hi, @tkelce 👋 pic.twitter.com/UW2OqdfjEv
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) June 17, 2025
'I expect Travis to be Travis, man,' Mahomes said. Kelce has long prided himself on his accountability within the Chiefs' building, even as his stardom has ballooned to absurd levels over the last 21 months. At times, it's easy to wonder how he juggles it all. Just this past Monday, Kelce was in Cannes, France, for an Amazon event.
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Within 24 hours, he was back on the Chiefs practice field.
'Football is always going to be No. 1,' Kelce pledged. 'I love this game. It's still my childhood dream. When I really thought about it this offseason, I got back to just wanting to focus more on this game and getting the most out of this game while I'm still putting on the cleats and putting on the pads. This will always be No. 1 in terms of my business world and my career path.'
After Tuesday's practice, coach Andy Reid passed out the team's AFC Championship rings from last year. There was no ceremony, no celebration.
In Kansas City, the standard is higher.
'Everybody has their own view on it,' Kelce said. 'I'm only interested in Super Bowl rings.
'Last year wasn't a success for me, and I'm motivated to make sure we get that other ring this year.'
Do that and Kelce would have the chance to walk away on top, a storybook finish for a sterling career. He signed a two-year extension following the Chiefs' most recent Super Bowl win, in February 2024, and will play on the last year of that deal this fall. He conceded Wednesday that this could be it, his 'last dance' of sorts with Mahomes and Reid and company, but he'll cross that bridge when it comes.
For now, he's still a football player chasing another championship, wanting to rid his mouth of the bad taste his most recent outing left him with.
'I got one year on this contract — I know that,' Kelce said. 'The Chiefs organization knows how much I love them. I can't see myself ever playing anywhere else. So we'll deal with that down the road.'
That decision will have to wait. First up: the chase for No. 4.