What’s next for Travis Kelce in 2024? From retirement claims to planning his future with Taylor Swift, the Chiefs star is contemplating life after football after a wild year that saw him rise to stardom far outside the NFL

 

There aren’t many athletes who can claim that they had a better year than Travis Kelce, both in their sport and personally speaking, as they reflect on 2023.

Looking back at what has been, without a shadow of a doubt, at the most intense 12 months of the 34-year-old Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s career, Travis first came to attention when he and his older brother, Jason, a center for the Philadelphia Eagles, became the first pair of siblings to play each other in Super Bowl history.

Dubbed as the ‘Kelce Bowl’, NFL fans witnessed a spectacle at State Farm Stadium – home of the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale – as Travis and Patrick Mahomes lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the second time in three seasons after winning their first title together in 2019.

This season, Travis continues to prove why he belongs in the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team, as he broke the Chiefs franchise record for career receiving yards against the Miami Dolphins in November. He also became the fastest tight end to reach 11,000 career receiving yards, and is on the verge of having the most 1,000+ yard seasons among current and retired players in his position (eight).

And things have been going well off the field, too. Travis is dating Taylor Swift, with the couple going from strength to strength, although some have been pointing fingers at the pop star for the Chiefs enduring a recent wobble in form.

So after an eventful year which saw him reach more highs than lows, what can we expect from Trav’ in 2024? Here, DailyMail.com takes a look at what’s to come for the Chiefs’ No. 87.

Travis Kelce has a lot of thinking to do regardless of the Chiefs reaching the Super Bowl again

Travis is said to have ‘big plans’ for himself and Taylor in 2024, starting in the offseason in Feb.

Travis, 35, made a lot more media appearances in 2023 than he did through most of his career

 

Let’s start with perhaps the touchiest of possibilities – Travis retiring just a year shy from 35, that is. Oh, to be 22, again…

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the eight-time Pro Bowler admitted that he’s becoming more and more aware of the pain and injuries his body sustains from playing week in and week out for six months from September to February.

‘That’s the only thing I’ve never really been open about, the discomfort. The pain,’ Travis said in November. ‘The lingering injuries — the 10 surgeries I’ve had that I still feel every single surgery to this day.’

But, four months prior to opening up on how he manifested the best year of his life to WSJ, Travis said he won’t step away from football, simply because he’s entering his mid-30s.

‘Till the wheels fall off, baby,’ Kelce said at Chiefs mandatory minicamp in June. ‘I love this game. I know I’m going to miss it when I’m done playing.’

Travis admitted to still feeling the 10 surgeries he’s had ‘to this day’ after 11 seasons in the NFL

Finishing his career back in his hometown 

In a world full of surprises, who could possibly imagine Travis donning another NFL team’s jersey other than the Chiefs’ almighty red, white and gold colors?

Well, despite being a loyal servant to Kansas City, the team that drafted him in 2013 and for who he has played on for 11 seasons, Travis revealed his childhood dream of playing for the Cleveland Browns in the fall, having been raised in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

He made the confession on his ‘New Heights’ podcast with rapper-rocker Machine Gun Kelly, also a Cleveland native, who offered Travis a $500,000 in cash to gear up in his hometown’s gear before calling time on his career.

‘I’ll tell you what, man, that’s an intriguing offer – an intriguing offer,’ Travis said in response to MGK’s bid to bring him back to his roots. ‘Because you know how much we love the east side of Cleveland. You already know, brother.’

Only time will tell…

Hailing from Westlake, Ohio, Travis once admitted to wanting to playing for the Browns as a kid

Playing on… and on!

As Travis continues to produce at a historically high level, there is no ruling out that he could last longer in the league than most tight ends.

Like Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Jerry Rice, he’s more likely the exception to the rule as a statistical anomaly than a player that is followed for expected production at a specific age.

Tight ends like Travis or four-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski proved that age is just a number, as the Chiefs’ No. 87 broke several franchise and league records in his 30’s, like being the first player in his position with multiple 100+ catch seasons in NFL history in 2020.

This season, Travis tied a career high with 12 receptions in a Chiefs win against the L.A. Chargers in Week 7.  He also had 179 receiving yards, the second highest of his career. In the Chiefs week 9 game vs. the Dolphins, he broke the Chiefs franchise record for career receiving yards, surpassing Tony Gonzalez.

Travis now has 904 catches for his career. Those catches have totaled 11,312 yards.

Not bad, Trav’…

Travis, left, became the fastest tight end to get to 10,000 career receiving yards at age 32-33

He’s been tipped to go into acting and fashion

In November, Chiefs Hall of Famer Nick Lowery tipped Travis to try his hand at acting once he’s done playing, after he appeared several times on SNL shortly after winning Super Bowl LIV in February.

Travis was also the face of several commercials for State Farm, Bud Light, Campbell’s Soup, and more over the last year. He was even dubbed ‘Mr. Pfizer’ by Aaron Rodgers after starring in an advertisement to promote the COVID-19 booster.

Lowery was initially a theater major during his days at Dartmouth and the former Chiefs kicker believes Trav’ will follow him into the world of performing.

‘His personality, he’s going to go into acting, I mean I can just see it,’ Lowery once said on Michele Tafoya’s podcast.

Travis is also the proud owner of Tru Kolors, which he launched in collaboration with the Chiefs this season, to provide fans with more apparel, ranging from hoodies and sweatpants to button downs shirts.

Very trendy, you have become, Trav’…

Travis has been spotted in several ads this year for State Farm (pictured), Pfizer, and Bud Light

His big plans with Taylor

A new year, a new start, right? Well, that seems unlikely for Travis and Taylor, who have been going from strength to strength since they started dating in September, right before the start of football season.

Friends of the pair claimed to Page Six at one point that the Chiefs tight end has asked the pop star’s father, Scott, for his permission to marry the ’22’ singer, as they spark rumors of getting engaged soon. 

What’s more is, that Trav’s friends can totally see him marrying Swift, as they believe the NFL star is head over heels for her. The couple have mostly been spotted going on dates in Kansas City, but have looked loved up each time they meet after Chiefs games. 

Travis has been planning dates for Taylor while she tours for six months, starting in February

Taylor has also been seeking refuge at her beau’s Kansas City mansion as she gears up to tour worldwide, starting in February, first in Asia, then in Europe, prior to her return on North American soil in September.

Speaking of which, Travis has been setting up a whole lot of trips to Italian vineyards and lavish restaurants’ on the Old Continent for the singer’s days off, as she gears up to the demands of touring for half of year. 

According to The US Sun, the four-time First-Team All-Pro has booked hotels in Paris and Milan costing in excess of $6,000-a-night to stay close to his partner.

One thing for sure in 2024 is that the Chiefs star isn’t set to call it quits with Taylor anytime soon, from what it seems like, as he ponders his next move once the 2023 season is finally over in less than two months time.

The sweet way Travis Kelce reacted to his mom’s TODAY show interview

Donna Kelce was hilariously tight-lipped when dishing on national news about her son’s new relationship.

As the news of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship spread across the internet like wildfire — here at TODAY.com included — the NFL player’s mom, Donna Kelce, agreed to an interview on national network television.

Donna Kelce sat down with TODAY ostensibly to discuss her “time to shine” as she finds herself in the spotlight as the mother of not one but two star NFL players. Of course, though, we couldn’t resist asking about her youngest son’s then-rumored relationship with one of the biggest pop stars in the world.

“It’s fairly new, so I don’t like to talk about it,” she said at the time. “It’s just one of those things where, you know, obviously everybody saw me. I was in the boxes with her and it’s just another thing that’s amped up my life.”

When asked if she thought it was a budding romance, she replied: “I honestly can’t tell you. It’s just too new.”

Later, when pressed, she famously said spending time with Swift when she attended a Kansas City Chiefs game “was OK.”

Now, in a new interview with WSJ. Magazine, Travis Kelce revealed that his mom was upset with herself for how she handled the question.

 “Trying not to sound too enthusiastic, she came off underwhelmed,” the outlet reports. “Kelce, not wanting his mom to feel bad, immediately phoned her and assured her that she did a super job —adding that her green eyeglasses looked great.”

Travis Kelce told the magazine that he’d been uncharacteristically guarded with the media in the initial stages of their relationship.

“That was the biggest thing to me: make sure I don’t say anything that would push Taylor away,” he said.

These days, Donna Kelce told WSJ. Magazine that she feels more free to speak about her son’s relationship with Swift.

“I can tell you this… “He is happier than I have seen him in a long time…. And now I’m looking forward to their upcoming grandchild, she said, smiling brightly.