Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said that winning a fourth Super Bowl is what is still driving him as he enters his 13th NFL season.
Travis Kelce lied.
"I'm only interested in Super Bowl rings," Kelce told reporters during a June 18 news conference, his first formal appearance with the media since making his decision to return for a 13th NFL season with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2025.
Evidently, Kelce also had an engagement ring on his mind. Pop star Taylor Swiftannounced her engagement to the three-time Super Bowl champion on Tuesday, less than two weeks after she made her first-ever podcast appearance on "New Heights," hosted by Travis and Jason Kelce.
Kelce is coming off his worst statistical season as a professional (outside of his rookie year, when he barely played). Despite catching 97 passes, he averaged 8.5 yards per reception. He was critical of his performance (four catches, 39 yards) in the Chiefs' Super Bowl 59 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Entering 2025, the now-betrothed Kelce said his focus does not extend beyond this year.
"I got one year left on this contract, I know that, and we'll try and figure out something for next year," Kelce said. "The Chiefs organization knows how much I love them. I can't see myself ever playing anywhere else. So we'll deal with that down the road when the time is right, but right now I'm focused on winning a championship this year."
Leaving the season with another Lombardi Trophy is his lone focus, he said, and the only way he determines success at this stage in his career.
"It's the only way I'm wired now," he said.
If 2025 is indeed the last ride for Kelce, nobody would know it yet, according to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
"The way he’s talking about football, the way he’s talking about working and trying to be even better this year than he was last year, he’s not – he doesn’t seem like a guy that it’s his last ride, like he’s tired of the job," Mahomes said. "He’s in there, he’s working and I know his body feels good. I think it feels better than even last year before going into the last season. Just because I think he’s motivated to go out there and have an even better year than he had this last (year)."
Kelce admitted to GQ that he was not as dedicated to football in recent years as he'd previously been. Such is life when you are dating the most famous person in the world, hosting a highly-ranked podcast, appearing in dozens of commercials and launching an acting career.
"Football is always going to be number one," he said, adding that he is focused on siphoning as much as he can from the game he loves. "This will always be number one in terms of my business world and my career path."
And if he wants another ring – this one of the championship variety – he'll have to lean on the work he's put in throughout the offseason, a regiment that started in the spring, he said.
"Trying to win Super Bowls, man," Kelce said. "It’s the only way you get there. I think it starts in the offseason."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Engaged to Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce wants another Super Bowl ring
Category: Football
