KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Travis Kelce didn’t address his future in football Sunday after the Kansas City Chiefs’ blowout loss in Super Bowl LIX, though he did indicate he hopes to keep playing when asked ahead of the game in New Orleans.
Truthfully, he was probably never going to address it postgame. That wouldn’t be his style to distract from the team in such a moment.
Kelce also may not know what he wants to do quite yet — and quarterback Patrick Mahomes intends to give him time to figure it out.
“I’ll let Travis make that decision on his own,” Mahomes said. “He’s given so much to this team, to the NFL and been such a joy — not only for me to work with, but for people to watch. He knows he still has a lot of football left in him. You can see it; he always makes plays in the biggest moments. But it’s if he wants to put in that grind.”
Mahomes said Kelce ultimately will make the decision with his family, "but he knows that he can come here with open arms.”
“We love that guy, not only for the football player but the person that he is every single day,” Mahomes said.
Kelce didn’t have a catch in the first half and finished with only four catches for 39 yards, both career-lows for his five Super Bowl appearances.
“We couldn’t get it going offensively,” Kelce said. “They just got after us in all three phases. Then, on top of that, turnovers, penalties, playing behind the sticks on offense, dropped passes ... there’s a lot that goes into it. ... We couldn’t find that spark; we couldn’t find that momentum.”
The Eagles’ defense didn’t do anything that surprised the Chiefs’ offense, according to Kelce.
It was just a lethargic performance, especially up front in a game that featured six sacks and 11 QB hits from Philly’s four-man defensive line rotation.
“There were a lot of things going wrong,” Kelce said. “You can’t just say it was the [offensive] line or anything like that. I think it was an accumulation of everything not really going our way today.”
Kelce’s older brother, Jason, retired after last season. He waited until early March to announce his decision formally at a press conference.
With a burgeoning acting career and the world’s most famous girlfriend (Taylor Swift), Kelce has plenty of pursuits outside of football to consider. He also has one year remaining on a contract he signed last offseason, which includes an $11.5-million roster bonus if he’s still on Kansas City’s roster March 14, 2025.
“It takes a grind to play 20 games or whatever it is to get to the Super Bowl,” Mahomes said. “He’s done enough to be a gold-jacket guy and first-ballot Hall of Famer, but I know he still has love for the game.”
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