Denver Broncos double-teamed him<\/a> on the game-deciding fourth-down pass.<\/p>\nKelce reached two milestones in the Chiefs\u2019 season finale. He became the quickest tight end to reach 13,000 yards, then also logged 75 receptions for a 10th straight season, tying the NFL record set by receiver Tim Brown.<\/p>\n
After that game, Kelce didn\u2019t tip his hand on whether he was leaning toward retirement or coming back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got so much love for this team, this organization and the people here,\u201d Kelce said. \u201cSo I\u2019ll spend some time with them, go through exit meetings tomorrow and get close to the family and figure things out.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least one close teammate wasn\u2019t convinced Kelce was hanging it up. That was All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, who was asked about Kelce and the potential of it being his last game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not buying it,\u201d Jones said. \u201cHe\u2019ll be back next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones referenced the \u201ctricky\u201d season K.C. had just gone through, which ended with a 6-11 record and a 1-9 mark in one-score games. And though he couldn\u2019t promise anything when it came to someone else\u2019s choice, Jones reiterated he had \u201cfaith in my dawg coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n
It turned out he had a reason for that conviction.<\/p>\n
Kelce coming back provides a security blanket option for Mahomes, whose mobility could be limited for a while as he recovers from a torn ACL suffered in December. Though no timetable has been set for Mahomes\u2019 return, he could be back as soon as the team\u2019s season opener.<\/p>\n
The Chiefs drafted Kelce in the third round (No. 63) in 2013. After missing nearly his entire rookie season with a bone bruise, Kelce has gone on to start 185 regular-season games with Kansas City over the next 12 years.<\/p>\n
Kelce is one of three tight ends to catch 1,000 passes and one of five to break 10,000 receiving yards. During the 2025 season, he also became the franchise leader in touchdowns, surpassing running back Priest Holmes with a TD reception in Week 11 against the Denver Broncos.<\/p>\n
At his peak, Kelce strung together some of the most dominant performances at his position, including a tight-end record 1,416 yards in 2020. Kelce also had seven consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons from 2016 to 2022, with five of those coming with Mahomes as the starting quarterback; no other tight end has more than four such campaigns.<\/p>\n
Over the past three years, Kelce became a worldwide celebrity after he began dating pop superstar Taylor Swift. The two connected after Kelce attempted to give Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it during a July 2023 concert tour stop at Arrowhead Stadium.<\/p>\n
Their relationship became public when Swift attended the Chiefs\u2019 home game to watch Kelce on Sept. 24, 2023. Kelce proposed to Swift in August 2025, with a wedding date set for June 13, 2026.<\/p>\n
Kelce told McAfee on Tuesday that Swift\u2019s dedication to music \u2014 and her continued love and passion for it \u2014 was part of what inspired him to continue playing football.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething like that definitely motivates me to say, \u2018You know what? I\u2019m not done either,\u2019\u201d Kelce told McAfee. \u201c\u2018I\u2019ve still got some ideas in the back of my mind, and still got some juice left to play this game.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The spotlight has been brighter on Kelce the past few years. He launched his \u201cNew Heights\u201d podcast with Jason in 2022, which quickly became one of the world\u2019s most-listened-to shows. He hosted \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d in 2023, played a supporting role in the FX horror series \u201cGrotesquerie\u201d in 2024 and was featured on the cover of GQ magazine in August 2025.<\/p>\n
Mahomes and Kelce formed an impressive connection over the years, as no quarterback\/receiver duo has combined for more playoff touchdowns (19). Mahomes also consistently turned to Kelce in crucial moments during the team\u2019s playoff runs.<\/p>\n
In the famous \u201c13 Seconds Game,\u201d Mahomes connected with Kelce to set up a 49-yard Harrison Butker field goal that sent the 2021 AFC divisional-round game against the Buffalo Bills to overtime. Kelce later hauled in the winning touchdown pass in that game.<\/p>\n
Kelce has been excellent in his five Super Bowl appearances, too, posting the most Super Bowl receptions of all time (35) while ranking second behind Jerry Rice in receiving yards with 389.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tight end Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs are working to finalize a one-year deal worth up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":805068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,1999,7,118,110,2438,2437,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-805067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-fantasy-football","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-kansas-city","12":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","13":"tag-kansascity","14":"tag-kansascitychiefs","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116206373815198987","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}