Henry McKenna
AFC East Reporter
It’s been a while since we’ve heard much about Travis Kelce.
He’s an international icon now — and has been ever since he started dating Taylor Swift — but the Kansas City Chiefs tight end has kept a pretty quiet head during the team’s training camp in St. Joseph, Mo. He seems like a guy who likes to keep a low profile.
However, he hasn’t completely disappeared. Kelsey recently announced that she’ll be hosting a game show. And unfortunately, Swift recently had to cancel a concert in Austria due to a terror threat, putting her Eras tour on hold for a week. Kelsey has reportedly been in contact with Swift.
But during Chiefs practices and preseason games, he appeared relaxed, perhaps even silent.
Chiefs camp is the perfect place for that. The team is sheltered from the public eye, camping at Missouri Western State University. Kelce sleeps in one of the dorms, presumably two twin beds pushed together to accommodate his 6-foot-5, 250-pound frame. It’s modest.
“This is my sanctuary, baby,” Kelsey said on July 27. “St. Joe. Grade 12. I spent almost a year of my life here in the dorms. People might think it’s pretty grueling, but I enjoy it. There’s something about this place that I get ready for every year. And I’m not gonna lie, I was super excited.” [for camp to start]”
The “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelsey” podcast, which previously averaged about four new episodes per month, has not released a new episode since July 3, and Kelsey has only spoken to local media twice since the Super Bowl.
In camp, the 34-year-old Kelce has been taking part in drills, but it’s clear the Chiefs are taking it easy on him, and rightly so, as it allows tight ends Noah Gray, Jared Wiley and Irv Smith more playing time and, most importantly, keeps Kelce on the field all season, possibly well into February.
Last year must have been tough for Kelce, and I mean that in a good way. He started dating Swift and won another Super Bowl. His snap count (775) was his lowest since 2014, but tactically the onus of the offense was on him more than ever.
Kansas City’s offense got off to a terrible start. Patrick Mahomes said it “wasn’t a lot of fun” as the Chiefs struggled in the first few weeks. The only pass-catching guy he could rely on was Kelce, who led the team in receptions and receiving yards despite missing two games. Kelce was nursing a knee injury he suffered before the start of the season and an ankle injury he suffered in Week 5 during the game.
He capped the Chiefs’ 21-game season with a trip to the postseason, during which he recorded 32 catches on 37 targets for 355 yards and three touchdowns.
When asked how he handled the high-profile offseason trip with the Swifts, Kelce referenced the rigors of last season.
“I think the biggest thing was just getting my body ready,” he said. “Last year was pretty hard on my body, that’s the reality. Over the last five or six years, I’ve played more snaps than a lot of guys, if not everyone in the NFL, and I’m very fortunate and proud of that. But I know it’s taken a toll on my body. I’m just trying to get my body to rest, train harder and be able to withstand a 17- to 20-game season.”
Will Travis Kelce become the most famous football player of all time?
Since 2018, Kelce has played more snaps (6,523) than any skill player in the NFL (including playoffs), which raises the question of whether he’s hinting at an impending retirement from the league.
When will he retire? “I can’t put a deadline on it,” he said.
“I’m going to keep going until the wheels come off, and hopefully that won’t be anytime soon,” Kelsey said. “I understand I’m at the end of the road, not the beginning, and I’ve got to make sure I’m ready after football is over.”
He added: “I love coming to work every day and doing this.”
Meanwhile, the Chiefs have revamped their offensive line personnel to ease some of the strain: Kansas City drafted receiver Xavier Worthy in the first round and signed Hollywood Brown in free agency, while receiver Rushe Rice emerged as one of Mahomes’ favorite pass-catching guys late last season.
But it could be another slow start for the Chiefs’ receivers. Brown is out for several weeks of the regular season with a torn sternoclavicular joint, and Rice is likely to miss the start of the season due to a suspension he received after being involved in a multi-vehicle accident in April that left several people injured.
The Chiefs also bolstered their tight end position by drafting TCU recruit Wiley in the fourth round, an offseason move that should help Kelce perform well in 2024.
But convincing him to rest some plays during the season will be tough.
“Wear me out, baby,” Kelsey said. “I’m ready for that. Let me carry the load. I love being responsible for this building and the men and women of Chiefs Kingdom. I love having guys counting on me just to play for the team.”
“I don’t think that just because I’ve increased my mileage from last year makes me a lesser athlete.”
That’s why Kelce seems to be enjoying a mediocre training camp. He’s focused on winning another Super Bowl. The Chiefs have a good chance of becoming the first team in the Super Bowl era to win three straight championships. If they’re going to do it, they’re going to need Kelce to be a central figure again.
The idea is simple: simplify things in August to get results in February.
Henry McKenna covered the Patriots for seven years for USA Today Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media before joining FOX Sports as their AFC East reporter. Follow him on Twitter. Henry Cmckenna.
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