Travis Kelce on Returning for a 13th Season: "I Love Playing Football"

Kelce spoke about his decision to return for the 2025 season on “New Heights”

Mar 06, 2025 at 11:52 AM

Matt McMullen

Chiefs Reporter

Travis Kelce has a long career in the entertainment industry and a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame to look forward to down the road, but in the meantime, the All-Pro tight end is focused on a 13th season playing for the Kansas City Chiefs.

"The biggest thing is I love playing the game of football. I still feel like I can play it at a high level, and possibly at a higher level than I did last year," Kelce said on his podcast, "New Heights," on Wednesday. "I love so many people in Kansas City – both in the facility and the community. It's home for me now, and I don't want to leave that life yet."

MORE. Let's get it, @tkelce 😤 pic.twitter.com/6h97UiUAL4
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) March 5, 2025

Kelce, who owns the Chiefs' franchise records for catches (1,004), receiving yards (12,151) and receiving touchdowns (77), has been a foundational piece of one of the greatest runs of sustained success by any team in NFL history.

The former third-round pick has helped lead the Chiefs to the playoffs in all but one of his 12 seasons in Kansas City, including a streak of nine-consecutive AFC West titles that began in 2016. The Chiefs have won five AFC titles and three Super Bowl championships in that time, and Kelce – whose 178 catches are the most in NFL postseason history – has been right in the middle of that success.

"I love going into the building with the guys that are there. [Head] Coach [Andy] Reid is one of the biggest influences on my life – not just in the game of football – and I don't want to stop going to work with him," Kelce said. "There are so many people in that building that I love with all my heart, and I want to keep living out those dreams and going to work with them."

The 35-year-old Kelce hauled in 97 catches for 823 yards and three touchdowns in 2024, and now that he's officially returning for his 13th season as a professional, Kelce has his sights set on being the best player he can be in 2025.

"I feel like there's a responsibility in me to play out the contract that I initially signed, and to give Kansas City and the Chiefs organization everything that I got," Kelce said. "That's what I'm going to do."