Travis Kelce is sharing the inside scoop on his decision to return for a 14th season with the Kansas City Chiefs.
“At what point did you know for sure you were coming back?” Jason Kelce asked during the Wednesday, March 11, episode of the brothers’ “New Heights” podcast. Travis, 36, quickly replied, “About midway through the season.”
Travis went on to explain why it took him this long to make the news official. “You know, I think I was taking Jason Kelce’s advice,” he teased. “I was taking the advice to take a step back, because you gotta let the emotions clear and you gotta have a clear head. I’ve made decisions based on emotions and they haven’t always played out the right way. So I think taking a step back, letting the emotions settle down, the frustrations from the season — of course I want to come back. Of course I don’t want to end my career not making the playoffs, not having one of the best years.”
The tight end acknowledged that he took stock of how his body felt and how the end of the season played out, but he realized “it still felt like I was hungry enough to get back at it.”
“Obviously there’s still a little bit of that grit and that emotion, you know, I f***ing hated the way that s*** ended last year,” he continued. “I want to make it right. And I want to get a chance at another f***ing Super Bowl.”
Travis also revealed how much quarterback Patrick Mahomes‘ season-ending ACL injury factored into his decision.
“I knew Pat was gonna be Pat and he’s gonna work his f***ing tail off to get back and be at his best. I knew that was a no-brainer,” he said, also noting that he “knew Coach [Andy] Reid was gonna make adjustments” to the team roster.
Elsewhere in the episode, Jason, 38, told his brother he’s “excited” to see him back on the field for another year.
Rumors swirled about Travis’ future in the NFL after the Chiefs’ disappointing 2025-26 season, which ended with the team missing the playoffs for the first time in more than 10 years. The official “New Heights” social media accounts confirmed on Monday, March 9, that Travis is “back with the Chiefs for year 14.”
Despite the speculation, Travis noted on Wednesday that he was “always pretty optimistic” about coming back, which people knew within the Chiefs organization.
“I wanted to kind of give it some time and refocus it and let the Chiefs make some moves and figure out a lot of things first to make us an all-around better team,” he explained.
One day earlier, Travis opened up on The Pat McAfee Show about how his fiancée, Taylor Swift, helped inspire his decision.
“We share the same love for what we do,” he said on Tuesday, March 10. “Fortunately, we’ve had this desire since we were kids in our selective professions. It’s amazing to see her keep going to the table, keep finding new things to write about, keep finding new melodies and things like that. On top of that, still seeing her have that love and joy in what she does. … Something like that definitely motivates me to say, ‘You know what, I’m not done either. I’ve still got some ideas in the back of my mind. I’ve still got some juice left to play this game.'”
