National Football League

Chiefs' Travis Kelce not retiring 'until the wheels fall off'

Published Jun. 14, 2023 1:42 p.m. ET

Travis Kelce has won two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs, is at the top of his game and will likely be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. When will the 33-year-old tight end call it a career? According to Kelce, no time soon.

Kelce expressed that he intends on playing as long as his body lets him.

"Until the wheels fall off, baby," Kelce said about how long he'll remain in the NFL. "I love this game, man. I know I'm gonna miss it when I'm done playing. I hear you on that [being able to play] and that's a business decision I'm sure I'll have to make at some point in my life, but for right now I'm in this building wanting to win football games, man."

Kelce totaled a career-high 110 receptions for 1,338 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. In the postseason, he totaled 27 receptions for 257 yards and four touchdowns. Across that three-game stretch, Kelce racked up 14 receptions against the Jacksonville Jaguars and got the Chiefs on the board against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII with an 18-yard touchdown from two-time MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Since becoming a full-time starter in 2014, Kelce has averaged 90.4 receptions for 1,149.3 yards and 7.7 touchdowns per season. Over that span, he has missed just three games. Kelce has totaled 1,000-plus receiving yards in each of the last seven seasons. He has also led the Chiefs in receptions in six of the last seven seasons.

The Chiefs star is fifth among NFL tight ends in all-time receptions (814), fourth in receiving yards (10,344) and sixth in touchdowns (69). Kelce is first in all three categories among active tight ends and is an eight-time Pro Bowler.

Tony Gonzalez, who played for the Chiefs from 1997-08, is first in all-time receptions (1,325) and receiving yards (15,127), as well as second in touchdowns (111) at the position.

As for why he continues to play, Kelce doesn't take his situation for granted.

"I just love the game," Kelce said. "I think that kind of keeps me living with a young, fun-loving football player. I get to play a game for a living at the age of 33, 34. I don't want to lose that excitement that I had for the game when I was a kid. Every single day I get to come in with the best team, best players, best coaches in the world, so it makes it easy to come in here and just enjoy it. I just focus on a lot of the smaller things, the details of things and just try to make sure that everything as an athlete in terms of muscles and explosion and things like that that everything's firing, so I don't go out there and tweak my back like I did last week."

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