Kelce ‘never been more excited’ entering 12th season with Chiefs
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce isn’t showing any signs of slowing down entering his 12th season in Kansas City.
“Ready to rock,” Kelce told local reporters Tuesday. “I’ve never been more excited, to be honest. We got a great team, great group of guys that are putting all their heart into every single day. That’s fun to be a part of.”
Kelce missed last year’s season-opener after hyperextending his knee days before kickoff. This year, the 34-year-old enters Week 1 with a clean bill of health.
“Physically I feel just as good, if not more ready than I have been in years past,” he said. “You get more comfortable with your body. You learn things from the mistakes you made in years past and things like that. You just constantly keep getting better and keep getting more aware of where your body’s at.”
The NFL’s season kickoff features an AFC title game rematch between the Chiefs and Ravens at Arrowhead. Kansas City snuffed Baltimore’s Super Bowl hopes last season with a 17-10 win Jan. 28 at M&T Bank Stadium.
“You go out and you had all offseason, all training camp to get ready for this moment right here,” Kelce said. “Obviously there’s gonna be mistakes, there’s gonna be things we can work on after this game, but I think we’re as ready as we’ve ever been going into this first one.”
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The future Hall of Famer had a busy offseason off the field, from making an appearance in Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to inking a massive deal with Amazon for his ‘New Heights’ podcast with brother and former Eagles center, Jason Kelce.
“Hopefully the best is yet to come, baby,” Kelce said with a smile Tuesday.
Kelce finished the 2023 regular season with 93 catches for 984 yards – his lowest mark since 2015 – as the Chiefs rolled to their second-straight Super Bowl win.
“I just love coming in here, man,” Kelce said. “I mentioned St. Joe was my sanctuary; I just love football and how it takes me away from life. It gives me something I can feel genuinely happy about. I enjoy coming in the building, working on my craft, getting to understand a new game plan and perfecting that for the people around me. Gives me a purpose to kind of go about my day and to live my life. I have so much excitement doing it. It’s going to be hard trying to figure out when to call it quits or not.”
Kelce and company are hoping to rewrite the NFL history books this season with the first-ever Super Bowl three-peat.
The journey to New Orleans begins Thursday night.
“I’ve always enjoyed playing in the biggest moments with the most on the line, and what better way to start out the season than the Baltimore Ravens, right?,” Kelce said.
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