Travis Kelce talks retirement chatter ahead of Chiefs Wild Card game

The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season after winning the AFC West championship. This season was far from easy, even after just winning the Super Bowl the year before. The offense sputtered at the end of the season due in part to blocking at the line of scrimmage and drops from pass-catchers.

Tight end Travis Kelce didn't put up numbers like we were used to seeing in previous years, especially in his final three games played. That began rumors about whether this would be the last season of Kelce on an NFL field.

While speaking with reporters on Thursday ahead of their playoff game against the Miami Dolphins, Kelce was asked about potentially hanging up his cleats once the Chiefs' season ended. Kelce said he has no plans on retiring and has "no desire to stop anytime soon."

Travis Kelce shuts down retirement rumors ahead of Chiefs playoff game

That's about as strong of an answer from Kelce as you could have asked for. Chiefs fans have got to be pumped after hearing this.

Kelce is right there with Rob Gronkowski as one of the top tight ends in the game in the past decade. Kelce had been a consistent 1,000 receiving yards contributor to Kansas City's offense. The thing is, this season, his numbers did take a hit. Granted, it could be because of the lack of quality options in the wide receivers corps and quarterback Patrick Mahomes not having much time to make the throw he is looking for. But also, Kelce dealt with injury. He missed the season-opener vs. the Detroit Lions due to a knee bruise and suffered an ankle injury in Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings.

The last time that Kelce scored a touchdown was back in Week 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles. In Weeks 15-17, Kelce failed to crack 50 receiving yards. Here's how he performed in each game:

• Week 15 at New England Patriots: Five receptions for 28 yards on seven targets
• Week 16 vs. Las Vegas Raiders: Five receptions for 44 yards on seven targets
• Week 17 vs. Cincinnati Bengals: Three receptions for 16 yards on four targets.

Kelce didn't play in the team's season-finale against the Los Angeles Chargers because they already clinched the No. 3 seed in the AFC. With that, Kelce failed to crack 1,000 receiving yards for the first time since 2015.

The Chiefs will hope they can get back to form in the playoffs and make a run to the Super Bowl for the second consecutive season. This won't be one last hurrah for Kelce, as he plans to keep playing.