Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN football analyst Dan Orlovsky offered his opinion on whether Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce could retire sooner rather than later.
Kelce, 35, recently concluded his 12th season in the league. He finished the regular season with 823 receiving yards, marking the second straight year the star tight end failed to reach the 1,000 receiving yard mark.
While Kelce received Pro Bowl honors for the 10th consecutive year and remains a productive player, he is certainly closer to the end of his football career than the beginning. All of this comes as the Chiefs seek an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl championship. If the Chiefs finally lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy next month, Orlovsky believes quitting could become “a very real thing” for the seven-time All-Pro.
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Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs during a media day at the Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort and Spa in Henderson. Photo date: Wednesday February 7, 2024. (PA Wire/PA Images via Getty Images)
“Kelce is totally capable of making a difference. I think he has a great career ahead of him,” Orlovsky said on ESPN’s long-running daytime show “First Take.”
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“I think if he goes and has that classic Kelce performance, which I think he’s capable of, and two, he’ll do it, and they go on and repeat it three times, I think retirement becomes something very real for Travis Kelce.
“There would be nothing more to accomplish. He would be arguably the greatest tight end of all time. He would be the tight end that was part of [Chiefs] Only three times in NFL history. He’s obviously later in his career. I don’t think there’s anything left. And I think there’s still an elite, cool, difference-making, classic, ‘Oh my God, he did it again’ feel to it.”
Kelce has faced questions about when he will decide to end his NFL career. During a recent appearance on “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” he admitted that his thoughts on retirement tend to fluctuate, but he plans to “re-evaluate” things once the offseason begins.
Dan Orlovsky watches before Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
“I love everything I do… but at the end of the day, I’m not having that extreme success on the field,” Kelce said. “I’m excited for the next two games… to finish this season. I’ll re-evaluate like I always do. [and] “I’ll probably tell myself how much I love this and I’ll come back next year.”
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) scores on a 48-yard touchdown reception during the first half of an NFL wild card playoff football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, January 2022, in Kansas City, Missouri. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
The NFL veteran added that pop star Taylor Swift continues to offer him her full support when it comes to his playing career. “She fully encourages me to enjoy playing this game,” Kelce told Smith.
“I’ve had all the support in the world to continue chasing these dreams,” the three-time Super Bowl winner said, before noting that the “Anti-Hero” singer “loves coming” to games to watch him and the players play. Chiefs.
