Travis Kelce sounds exponentially more likely to retire than just one year ago

After a disappointing Super Bowl LIX loss, the Kansas City Chiefs have a lot to reflect on, rest up and make adjustments to ahead of next season. No one more so than tight end Travis Kelce, who has been at the center of retirement rumors since well before the big game.

The 35-year-old recorded 39 yards on four catches during Super Bowl LIX, a far cry from the heavy usage he's been accustomed to seeing in massive moments for the Chiefs.

On Wednesday, Kelce spoke for the first time since the loss and addressed those rumors on the "New Heights" podcast he and his brother Jason, who retired last year, host bi-weekly.

"It just wasn't our day," Kelce began. "I'm kicking my self for some of the tiny, tiny decisions I made on the field, I wasn't the best leader."

Travis Kelce says he'll 'take some time' to contemplate retirement

Kelce was asked about his potential retirement during the Super Bowl media days ahead of the game in New Orleans but he was rather tight lipped about the topic. Wednesday he gave the strongest indication yet that stepping away from the game is potentially in his plans, though he said it would take a significant amount of time to come that decision.

"I’m kicking every can I can down the road ... [I don't want to make] any crazy decisions," Kelce said. "I think I’m going to take some time to figure it out, and I think I owe it to my teammates that if I do come back, that it’s going to be something that is a whole-hearted decision. I’m not half-assing it, and I’m fully here for them. I think I could play, it’s just whether or not I’m as motivated or it’s the best decision for me as a man, as a human, as a person, to take on all that responsibility."

"It sucks when you get to this point in the career,” Jason said responding to his brother’s thoughts on hanging his cleats up. “It becomes harder and harder to do it. I think there’s a physicality that becomes more difficult to manage. There’s a mental approach that becomes more difficult to manage because a lot of times, it’s stocked on top of the physical discomfort and things that are happening."

This is a far cry from what Kelce said last year ahead of Super Bowl 58, where he vehemently shut down retirement talk.

Kelce is entering the final season of his two-year contract with Kansas City but both parties could get out of it this offseason. He's owed $4.5 million in 2025 but he'll have to decide whether the "grueling" process will be worth it for one last shot at glory.