James Conrad
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce opened up about retirement on Wednesday morning’s episode of his New Heights podcast.
Kelce, 34, is just coming off another Super Bowl victory and a big, albeit short, contract extension.
The Dreaded ‘R Word’
During their latest podcast episode, Travis and his older brother Jason, who recently retired from the Philadelphia Eagles, talked about the “R word.” This came up as Travis, 34, and Jason, 36, discussed the Chiefs player Chris Jones, 29, being asked about retirement after his team won the Super Bowl back in February.
“I don’t even wanna take my mind to go that far to the R word. We’ve got more years,” Chris replied, according to People Magazine.
In response to this, Jason ribbed his brother by quipping, “I don’t know though. Travis is pretty f—– old.”
Is Travis Considering Retirement?
Travis replied by saying that he never even thinks about retirement unless he’s asked about it directly. The newly retired Jason found this hard to believe, however, pointing out that “you think about it sometimes during really hard times of your body.”
Travis was still not having any of it. He claimed that he’s not ready to say goodbye to football just yet.
“It’s a thought that’s like, I love playing this game at the highest level possible,” Travis explained. “And I love playing at it at a level where I know I can have a bunch of success. I know I can still go out there and mow down dudes in the end zone.”
“I know I can go out there and catch a flat route and turn it into a 15-, 20-yard gain and make a few guys miss,” he added. “The moment that I can’t do that, I think that’s when I’m just gonna be like, ‘Alright. What am I doing this for?'”
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Even after years of being in the NFL, Travis still gets a rush from playing football.
“I get excitement out of catching a ball, splitting a bunch of defenders, and getting a huge first down when nobody expected me to do it,” he gushed. “You know? Or I scored a huge touchdown in a playoff game, in the Q4 when the team needed it the most.”
Travis Is Highest Paid Tight End In NFL
His passion for football aside, Travis has quite a bit of financial motivation to keep playing in the NFL.
Two months ago, Travis officially became the highest paid tight end in the NFL when he signed a contract for Chiefs that is worth $34.25 million and runs through 2027. This gives him a yearly $17.125 million yearly average, ahead of the $17 million per year salary of the New York Giants’ former tight end Darren Waller, the previous highest paid tight end in the league.
Travis said afterwards that he is “extremely grateful” for the contract.
“I’m gonna love the next two years playing here in Kansas City, and we’ll see what happens after that, but I am so excited and so thankful to this organization for getting it done and making me feel appreciated and compensated the right way,” he added.
Full Story: Travis Kelce ‘Grateful’ After Signing $34 Million NFL Contract
It seems that Chiefs fans can rest assured that Travis isn’t going to be retiring anytime soon. It will certainly be interesting to see how the next few seasons go for him!