Chiefs Travis Kelce Finally Addresses Retirement Rumors

While Taylor Swift was being booed at the Superdome in New Orleans, Kelce had little impact on the Chiefs' 40-22 loss with only four catches for 39 yards in the second half after K.C. trailed by 27 points. That performance comes on the heels of a regular season in which he produced career-lows in receiving yards (823) and touchdowns (3).

After the game - and, actually, leading up to it - there were whispers about Kelce possibly retiring. In his first extensive comments since the loss that kept the Chiefs from a historic third consecutive championship, he addressed the rumors on Wednesday's episode of the New Heights podcast with his brother, Jason.

"I know everybody wants to know whether or not I'm playing next year, and right now, I'm just kicking everything down the road," Kelce said. "I'm kicking every can down the road. I'm not making any crazy decisions but right now, the biggest thing is just being there for my teammates and being there for my coaches, understanding that there's a lot that goes into this thing."

He went on to acknowledge that Kansas City's deep playoff runs has led him to playing more football games than almost anyone else in the NFL. Counting the postseason he's played 200 games in 12 seasons.

"That's a lot of wear and tear on your body," Kelce said. "That's a lot of time spent in the building focusing on your craft, focusing on the task at hand, every challenge that you set up for yourself. It's – that process can be grueling. It can weigh on you. It can make you better, or it can drive you crazy at the same time. Right now, it's one of those things where it was kind of driving me crazy this year."

He's also painfully aware of his decline in production.

"As you see yourself or feel yourself not have the success that you once used to have, man, it's tough pill to swallow," he said. "On top of that, to not be there in the biggest moments, knowing your team's counting on you, man, those are all extremely hard things to – it's just a tough reality."