KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) ā Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce plans to play next season rather than retire.
The 35-year-old Kelce had been mulling whether to return for a 13th season. But the four-time All-Pro made his feelings clear in a text to Pat McAfee that the host read during āThe Pat McAfee Showā on Thursday.
āMy dawg!!! Iām coming back for sure,ā the four-time All-Pro wrote, according to McAfee. āGonna try to get to the best shape Iāve been this offseason and get back to the mountaintop. Got a real bad taste in my mouth about how I played in that last game and how I got the guys ready for battle. I canāt go out like that!!!!ā
The Chiefsā quest to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls ended with a 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 9.
Kelce professed his love for football several times leading up to the Super Bowl. But he also said on his podcast he would ātake some timeā to figure out if he would retire or return for another season.
Kelceās decision is hardly a surprise, considering Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said Tuesday at the NFL combine that he was "āwas fired upā to keep playing after the season ended.