ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky believes Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce would be in a prime position to retire if Kansas City pulls off a historic three-peat as Super Bowl champions.
During Friday’s installment of “First Take,” host Molly Qerim asked Orlovsky what 35-year-old Kelce is capable of in his 12th NFL season while discussing the Chiefs-Texans Divisional Round playoff game on Saturday.
“Kelce is fully capable of being the difference maker. I think he’s got one great run left,” Orlovsky said. “I think if he goes and has that vintage Kelce performances, which I fully 1. think he’s capable of, and 2. will do, and they go on and three-peat, I think retirement becomes a very real thing for Travis Kelce.
.@danorlovsky7 says Travis Kelce has “one great run left” in his NFL career 👀
“If he goes and has that vintage Kelce performance … and [the Chiefs] go on to three-peat, I think retirement becomes a very real thing.” 👏 pic.twitter.com/SVEWmohH4r
— First Take (@FirstTake) January 16, 2025
“There would be nothing else to accomplish. He’d be arguably the greatest tight end of all time. He would be the tight end that was part of [Chiefs] only three-peat in the history of the NFL. He’s obviously later in his career. I don’t think there would be anything left. And I think he’s got one, elite, great, difference-maker, vintage, ‘oh my Gosh, he did it again’ run left in him.”
Kelce, who’s faced many questions about retirement this season, has acknowledge he’s toward the end of his career on his “New Heights” podcast with brother Jason Kelce.
During an appearance on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” Kelce explained that his opinion on retirement “changes every single day” and that he would “reevaluate” things in the offseason.
“I love everything that I’m doing … but at the end of the day, I’m not having that extreme success on the field,” said Kelce, who struggled to produce this season.
“I’m excited for these next couple of games … to finish this season off. I’ll re-evaluate it like I always do [and] I’ll probably tell myself how much I love this thing and I’ll come back next year.”
Kelce also said his girlfriend, 14-time Grammy winning singer Taylor Swift fully supports him and encourages him to continue playing.
