The Super Bowl always has this brutal sense of immediacy to it. The nature of the game is such that after months and months of insanely hard work it just comes to a halt and like that, the NFL season is over and one team is coated in confetti, while the other team is just shellshocked at losing, no matter if it’s a close game or a beatdown like the Eagles put on the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
We rush to snap judgments because it’s what we do, but the players themselves usually need 24-48 hours to really reflect on what happened. And Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, on an episode of his podcast “New Heights”, did just that, saying he’s “kicking myself” and that he “wasn’t the best leader” during the game.
“It just wasn’t our day. Couldn’t find a lick of momentum. I’m kicking myself for some of the tiny, tiny decisions I made on the field. I wasn’t the best leader I could be in motivating my guys and keeping my guys calm, cool and collected,” Kelce said to his brother Jason Kelce on the show. “I put a lot of that on myself as, you know, the guy that’s been in the building for 12 years and seen a lot of football and actually seen a situation just like this in the Super Bowl.”
Kelce, who has made it clear he’s not certain about his future in the NFL, came under some criticism before, during and after the Super Bowl as a result of being seen out with girlfriend Taylor Swift and for how he played on the field and for skipping the Chiefs after party.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow. It’s a hard reality, man. I love my teammates, I love my coaches, Chiefs Kingdom,” Kelce continued. “F—. I’m sorry for how it ended. I have a beautiful life, man,” Kelce continued. “I have loved ones. I have the most amazing family in the world that supports me in everything I do and they were all there cheering me on and hoping for the best on Sunday.
“I wish things would’ve went different. I wish I would have made better decisions early on and helped my guy Pat out and helped my team find that momentum and confidence. But I just have to tip my cap to the Eagles. They were firing on all cylinders coming out and we never had control over what was going on in that game.”
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Jason noted that Travis passed Jerry Rice and Rob Gronkowski in the record books, which he said would be a silver lining down the road for the younger brother.
“That’s the last thing that I care about right now,” Travis responded before the two shared a funny moment about Jason’s “records” which largely only include games started or games played.
Then Travis got deep into the retirement discussion and he very much sounded like someone who is worn down by playing a lot of football and is seriously considering walking away from football.
“I know everybody wants to know whether I am playing next year and right now I am just kicking everything down the road. I’m kicking every can I can down the road,” Kelce said. “I am not making any crazy decisions, but right now the biggest thing is just being there for my teammates and being there for my coaches, understanding, you know, that there’s a lot that goes into this thing. I’ve been fortunate over the past five, six years, I’ve played more football than anybody.
“And it’s because the people that are in that building and the fact we keep going to these AFC Championships and these Super Bowls and it means I’m playing an extra three games more than anyone else in the entire league. It’s a lot of wear and tear on your body. It’s a lot of time spent in the building, focusing on your craft, the task at hand, every challenge you set up for yourself. And that process can be grueling, it can weigh on you. It can make you better and it can drive you crazy at the same time.
“And right now it’s one of those things that was kind of driving me crazy this year. And I think that happens as you kind of tail off towards the back nine of your career, as [Scott Van Pelt] would say. As you see yourself not have this success you once used to have, it’s a tough pill to swallow. And on top of that not to be there in the biggest moments, knowing your team is counting on you … it’s just a tough reality.
“I’m gonna take some time to figure it out. And I think I owe it to my teammates if I do come back, it’s going to be something, it’s a wholehearted decision, I’m not half-assing it, 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.”
Whew. That’s a lot, man. And I think right now if you had to bet on anything, you’d probably bet on Kelce walking away after hearing that? The timeline might be so short in the wake of the Super Bowl that he completely changes his tune inside of the next week or so or the next month or so.
The playoff factor is real. We saw it with the 49ers and how it caught up with them in terms of injuries before it finally broke this year. The Chiefs have, as a result of their incredible run over the last five years, played a LOT of football.
Kelce, since 2020, has played in 19 (!) extra games as a result of the Chiefs playoff success. A “normal” NFL player who didn’t make the postseason in that stretch would have played in 83 games total over that stretch. Kelce’s played in — if you don’t count sitting at the end of the season — 102 total games.
It’s basically a full extra season added to five full seasons of playing in the NFL. Not to mention the added pressure of those games that take place in the postseason. It’s very reasonable to suggest that he feels worn down from all the prep work and all the on-field work.
And the idea that being out there with diminished skills almost certainly plays a factor too. Kelce has to know if he returns, he’s probably signing up for another 19- or 20-game season again, just because of who the Chiefs are and who they have at quarterback and at coach. Again, just based on that quote it sure sounds like Kelce could walk but perhaps that all changes in the coming weeks.
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