Travis Kelce has prioritized training this offseason, which has led to some impressive weight loss for the Kansas City Chiefs star.
When Kelce, 35, reports for Chiefs mandatory minicamp this week, he will look a little bit different than he did when Kansas City got demolished by the Philadelphia Eagles in February’s Super Bowl LIX.
“He will debut a bit of a slimmer look,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Saturday, June 14, on SportsCenter. “He’s told people close to him that he’s lost about 25 pounds this offseason.”
Fowler explained that Kelce “played a little bit heavier in 2024,” which saw the tight end settle for career-lows in receiving yards and touchdowns.
“He vowed to change it, and he has,” Fowler added.
Kelce was motivated to get in shape as he enters what could potentially be his final NFL season.
“This could be the last dance here for him,” Fowler said. “Mid-30s, still a productive player. They want to go to him on third down. Been declining a little bit. He’s trying to be slimmer and has gone hardcore this offseason to make it work.”
Kelce has been busy training in Florida this offseason, choosing to forego the Chiefs’ voluntary Organized Team Activities (OTAs) last week.
“The Chiefs knew Kelce was going to be gone this week,” Fowler said. “He is expected back for minicamp. He’ll address the media and be on the practice field, all that fun stuff.”
Chiefs’ mandatory minicamp runs from June 17 to 19.
Ahead of February’s Super Bowl, Kelce said he had already started changing his lifestyle in an effort to bolster his on-field production.
“I’ve been eating clean, I haven’t been drinking as much,” Kelce told reporters on February 6, four days before the game. “A little lower on the pounds this week. So hopefully I can run away from some [Philadelphia] Eagles out there.”
Despite the preemptive measures, Kelce had the worst Super Bowl of his career against the Eagles, making only four catches for 39 yards and zero touchdowns.
Questions were raised in the weeks after the Super Bowl about whether Kelce would return for another season. In announcing his plans to return, Kelce acknowledged he had a “bad taste in my mouth” after the Super Bowl loss.
“I think the biggest thing is that I f***ing love playing the game of football,” Kelce said on his “New Heights” podcast in March. “I love playing, I still feel like I can play at a high level. And possibly at a higher level than I did last year, I don’t think it was my best outing. I let my guys down in a lot more moments than I helped them, especially if you look at my track record and how I’ve been in years past. I just, you know, I wanna give it a good run.”
