Travis Kelce isn’t planning on hanging up his jersey anytime soon, but the Chiefs player knows he wants to call time on his career on his ‘own terms.’
The Kansas City star detailed his ideal retirement plan while chatting to his brother Jason, a few months after the former Eagles center hung up his own cleats.
‘I think you were very fortunate that you were able to go out on your terms and that’s the goal,’ Travis said on Wednesday’s episode of the New Heights podcast, ahead of his 12th season in the NFL.
‘If I can go out on my terms and not have something happen to my body, like a big-time injury to where I have to step away, that’s the biggest goal in football to be able to do it on my terms,’ he explained.
Jason, who retired in March after 13 seasons in Philadelphia, called it quits because he felt he wasn’t performing at a high level anymore.
‘I love playing at it at a level where I know I can have a bunch of success,’ the three-time Super Bowl champ said.
‘I know I can go out there and catch a flat route and turn it into a 15-20-yard gain and make a few guys miss, the moment that I can’t do that, I think that’s when I’m going to be when I’m like, “alright, what am I doing this for?”‘ Travis went on.
‘I get excitement out of catching a ball, splitting a bunch of defenders and getting a huge first down when nobody expected me to do it. Or I scored a huge touchdown in a playoff game in the fourth quarter when the team needed it the most.’
‘The moment that I can’t do that, and I’m playing it at an average or a less of a successful level than I am right now, I think that’s when I’m probably going to call it quits.’
His comments came one week after addressing his retirement while speaking to reporters at the Chiefs’ minicamp.
‘I love coming to work every single day. Obviously, I know there’s opportunities outside of football for me. I think you’ve gotta keep in perspective that I’m a little kid when I come in this building,’ he said earlier this month.
‘I’m gonna do it until the wheels fall off. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen anytime soon. I can definitely understand that it’s toward the end of the road than the beginning of it. I just gotta make sure I’m set up for after football as well.’
Meanwhile, Travis’ teammate Chris Jones insisted he has ‘four or five more years’ left in him.
‘We can’t let TK go,’ the defensive tackle added.
