Chiefs’ Travis Kelce isn’t thinking about retirement, reveals how long he’ll play in the NFL

There’s no reason for Travis Kelce to consider walking away from football, not at the level he’s producing at at tight end. Kelce is coming off his seventh straight 1,000-yard season and second Super Bowl title in four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Still at the top of his game, Kelce isn’t even considering retirement at this point. Entering his 11th year in the league, the 33-year-old Kelce won’t step away because he’s entering his mid-30s. 

“Till the wheels fall off, baby,” Kelce said at Chiefs mandatory minicamp Tuesday. “I love this game. I know I’m going to miss it when I’m done playing.”

Kelce isn’t just the best tight end in football, but one of the best pass-catchers in the NFL. His 675 catches and 8,607 receiving yards over the last seven seasons trail only Davante Adams in both categories, while his 59 touchdown catches are fourth among his peers. Kelce and Mike Evans are the only players in the NFL to have seven consecutive 1,000-yard seasons during that stretch. 

In the five years Kelce has had Patrick Mahomes as his starting quarterback, his 507 catches and 6,444 yards trail only Adams in those categories. The 47 receiving touchdowns Kelce has racked up are fourth in the NFL. Kelce has made the Pro Bowl all five years with Mahomes while racking up three first-team All-Pro selections. 

Kelce had a career-high 110 receptions last season, finishing with 1,338 yards and 12 touchdowns (also a career-high). Kelce is fourth amongst tight ends in NFL history in receiving yards (10,344), only 1,498 away from surpassing Antonio Gates for third. His 814 receptions are fifth in NFL history amongst tight ends, needing just one to match Shannon Sharpe for fourth (815). Kelce also has 69 career touchdowns, only six away from passing Jason Witten for fifth on the all-time list.

There’s plenty of good football left in Kelce. 

“I just love the game,” Kelce said. “I think that kind of keeps me living with, I don’t know, a young, fun-loving football player. I get to play a game for a living at the age of 33, 34 and I think that’s something – you know, I don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to lose that excitement that I had for a game when I was a kid.

“Every single day I get to come in with the best team, best players (and) best coaches in the world, so it makes it easy to just come in here and just enjoy it. 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.”