Will Travis Kelce retire after Super Bowl 59? Latest on Chiefs TE’s future

Another year, another trip to the Super Bowl for the Kansas City Chiefs — and another round of questions for star tight end Travis Kelce about his playing future. At this point in his career, Kelce has nothing to prove, and not all that much more to accomplish; a 10-time Pro Bowler, four-time first-team All-Pro and three-time Super Bowl champion, he's rewritten the record books at the tight end position, and he's a shoo-in for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But while he's certainly much closer to the end of his career than the beginning — and he has a whole bunch of reasons to devote more time to non-football endeavors these days — Kelce has insisted throughout the week that he's not thinking about retirement just yet.

"Hopefully still playing football," Kelce said when asked where he saw himself in three years. "I love doing this. I love coming into work every day. I feel like I still got a lot of good football left in me."

Of course, in the next breath, he left his future open-ended, saying that "we'll see what happens". "I know I've been setting myself up for other opportunities in my life. That's always been the goal, knowing that football only lasts for so long."

Now, just hours before he hopes to help the Chiefs capture an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl title, a new report suggests that Kelce's future. might come down to how the Big Game plays out on Sunday night.

Will Travis Kelce retire after Super Bowl? The answer depends on the result

According to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, it's "possible" that the Super Bowl will be the final game of Kelce's 12-year NFL career. Kelce sounds very much undecided right now, refusing to make up his mind one way or the other until the new league year begins in March.

"Sources informed of his thinking say Kelce's decision could hinge on the results of Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles."

If that's really true — if Kelce is taking this sort of one-day-at-a-time approach to the rest of his career — then it seems like the odds are pretty good he'll opt to ride off into the sunset should Kansas City win on Sunday. Think about it: At this point, the only box Kelce has yet to check is a threepeat, the thing that he and Patrick Mahomes were circling as the confetti fell during their last Super Bowl win last February. If the Chiefs do come out on top and make NFL history, what would be the point in coming back for another year? Why go through the wear and tear of a full offseason, nevermind the rigors of a 17-game schedule (and, inevitably, multiple playoff games)?

Some players are just wired like that; Tom Brady, for example, played well past the point at which he'd proven all that he could. But Kelce doesn't seem to work that way, and he has plenty of avenues to pursue whenever he does elect to retire. If the Chiefs lose to Philly on Sunday, unfinished business might drive him to come back and try to go out on top. With a win, though, it's hard to see where the motivation would come from.