Travis Kelce isn't certain whether Sunday's 14-12 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders will be the final game of his Hall of Fame career.
The Kansas City Chiefs star tight end said he's unsure how long it might take him to determine whether he'll play a 14th season or prep to receive his gold jacket in five years.
"Who knows?" Kelce said, via ESPN’s Nate Taylor. "Either it hits me quick or I've got to take some time. Last year was a little bit easier. I think I knew right away I wanted to kind of give this one [year] a shot. We'll see."
Kelce played all 17 games for the injury-riddled Chiefs, who lost six straight to end the season with an 6-11 record, including the final three tilts sans Patrick Mahomes. Kelce led the Chiefs with 108 targets, 76 receptions, 851 yards, five touchdowns and 45 first downs. On Sunday, Kelce caught three passes for 12 yards, becoming the third tight end in NFL history to reach 13,000 receiving yards (Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten). He also passed Terrell Owens for the eighth-most receptions in NFL history with 1,080.
"I just love this team," Kelce said. "I'm proud of the way we finished this, even though it ended the way it did. The guys still showed up and gave it their all. That's all you can ask for, man.
"I've got so much love for this team, this organization and the people here. I'll spend some time with them, go through exit meetings [Monday] and get close to the family and figure things out."
It's instructive to note that when Kelce's brother, Jason, retired after the Eagles were eliminated from the postseason in mid-January, the former center waited seven weeks, until March 4, to hold his retirement press conference. Travis has said that he plans to make his decision before NFL free agency begins in March
Not everyone believes that Kelce will ride off into the sunset after a disappointing campaign for the club.
"He'll be back next year," star defender Chris Jones said of Kelce. "I've got faith in my dawg coming back. He brings a lot of energy, a lot of passion to the game. He's one of the best tight ends to ever play the game, if not the best tight end to ever play the game. I have so much respect and love for him.
"Hopefully, this is not his last year. We have so much more growth to do next year and so much work to do. I'm looking forward to it."
