Travis Kelce faced the locker room wall as he stepped back into his burnt-orange suit and sequined shirt. 

A member of Chiefs staff helped adjust his collar and then Kelce turned to face the barrage of questions that followed Kansas City’s brutal Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Only a few days prior in New Orleans, the 35-year-old тιԍнт end had teased the possibility of playing for three more years. He did not miss a single game of his 12th NFL season due to injury, helping to put Kansas City on the brink of a historic three-peat. 

As kickoff arrived, however, bombshell reports suggested that Super Bowl LIX could be Kelce’s final ever game. Following the Chiefs’ 40-22 loss at the Superdome, he admitted he was considering retirement. 

‘The fact that we keep going to these AFC Championships and Super Bowls means I’m playing an extra three games more than everybody else in the entire league,’ Kelce said recently on his podcast, New Heights.

‘That’s a lot of wear and tear on your body. It’s a lot of time spent in the building, focusing on your craft, focusing on the task at hand, every challenge that you set for yourself. That process can be grueling.

‘It can weigh on you. It can make you better and it can drive you crazy at the same time… it was kind of driving me crazy this year.’ 

Travis Kelce is considering his future after the Chiefs’ Super Bowl loss to the Eagles

The тιԍнт end wore an eye-catching suit for what could be his final ever game in the NFL

Kelce struggled to make an impact as the Chiefs were heavily beaten at the Superdome

Initial reports claimed Kelce had until March 14 to decide whether he would come back for another year, or call it quits; last week, his brother Jason’s suggested that, ‘in his heart,’ Travis has already made his choice.

And then, on Tuesday, Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach dropped the biggest hint yet that the тιԍнт end would see out the final year of his contract.

‘I still think he has that fire and desire to play,’ Veach said. ‘We left it as he’d be back, and we’re excited to get him back. And get him going.’

Over recent weeks, the Daily Mail has spoken to Patrick Mahomes and a raft of other Chiefs players and coaches about the 35-year-old. About the qualities that have allowed this 6ft 5in, 250lb ‘warrior’ to sustain such success. And about how much really remains in the tank. 

Their verdict?

‘He can play as long as he wants to,’ Mahomes said. 

‘Probably another 10 years,’ another team-mate claimed.

Kelce offered his own thoughts about why he has been able to stay so healthy, even as he edges toward 40, telling the Mail: ‘I have a good routine set for myself. I try and keep myself out of certain situations on the field, and on top of that, I just make sure that I’m always activating certain muscles and reducing the opportunity for me to get injured. That’s the biggest thing.’

Kelce also paid tribute to Alex Skacel, his trainer since 2017, and David Glover – his ‘go-to guy’ at the Chiefs.

‘I lean on them whenever I do feel discomfort, and just try to grind it out,’ he said. ‘You’ve signed up for the gig so you have to do it.’

The last couple of years have been particularly draining for Kelce. Not just because of his age and the Chiefs’ pursuit of immortality.

But because Kelce’s relationship with Taylor Swift has catapulted him to a suffocating level of fame. He is now one-half of, arguably, America’s most famous couple. 

Very few NFL players understand what life is like under that spotlight. Mahomes, perhaps? And Tom Brady.

‘He can play as long as he wants to play,’ Kelce’s quarterback and friend Patrick Mahomes said

The Chiefs star’s relationship with Taylor Swift has dominated the NFL over recent seasons

The pop sensation is pictured alongside Kelce’s father Ed (R) and trainer Alex Skacel (L)

Brendan Daly grew close to Brady during several years with the New England Patriots. He is now linebackers coach with the Chiefs and he is in awe of Kelce’s ‘amazing’ ability to juggle his private and professional life.

‘Tom [Brady] had an innate ability to do that as well,’ Daly said, adding that he believes football affords Kelce his only slice of normality. ‘With all that he’s going got going on – and I think Tom probably fit this bill as well – when they come into the building, that’s a sanctuary for them.’

‘That’s when they are able to be who they are and get away from all of the other stuff. They’re able to be with their teammates, coaches, and let their guard down and focus on what they love.’

He added: ‘You absolutely see that with Travis, for sure, and Patrick. Those guys can’t go to the grocery store and get milk in the morning. To be quite honest, I don’t necessarily envy that part of their life.’

Mahomes echoed Daly’s thoughts. 

The quarterback has built a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly partnership with Kelce over the past decade and he says he believes it is camaraderie – those long hours in the locker room – that has fueled the тιԍнт end’s prolonged brilliance.

‘He’s focused on the ultimate mission of being the best football player that he can be,’ Mahomes said. 

But, the quarterback added: ‘More than anything, more than I think he wants to even do it for himself, he just loves being in the building with his teammates and being a part of that.’

Despite all the distraction and all the attention, Kelce has continued to break new ground. Even as the Chiefs were humiliated in New Orleans, he set a new record. 

No player in history has as many Super Bowl receptions as Kelce’s 35. Earlier in the postseason, he amᴀssed a record ninth 100-yard receiving playoff game.

To fans, those statistics help illustrate the тιԍнт end’s enduring quality. To Kelce’s teammates, however, the real proof comes away from prying eyes.

Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift, Brittany and Patrick Mahomes attend the men’s final US Open Championships 2024

The тιԍнт end admitted the grind of life at the top of the NFL was ‘driving me crazy this year’

Swift and the тιԍнт end are pictured during a night out in New York City back in December

For center Creed Humphrey, it starts with the offseason. Historically, Kelce has taken around a month off – to ‘rewind and regroup and just relax’ – before starting to prepare his body for the oncoming barrage. 

‘When you have that much talent and you’re that determined to be able to do what he’s done for so long, it’s impressive,’ Humphrey said. ‘He sacrifices a lot to be able to play this game – and put himself in this position to play for a long time. I couldn’t be more proud.’

That ‘grind’ does not relent once the season starts. Defensive end Charles Omenihu, who recently pleaded with Kelce to carry on, revealed that the тιԍнт end is always early to the training room, taking particular care of his hips and his knees.

‘He practices so hard,’ Mahomes says. 

Skacel uses cupping and dry-needle therapy to help Kelce operate at full throttle. Between 2014 and 2021, he missed just two games.

Kelce’s dedication to his body and his craft dates back to 2005, when he was a sophomore in high school. 

He failed French class and was barred from playing football. But, egged on by his father Ed, ‘Trainer Trav’ found a way to continue working with the team behind closed doors – taping ankles and handing out water. 

More than a decade later, in 2019, Skacel traveled with Kelce to France for Paris Fashion Week. After one busy day, the тιԍнт end insisted on a sprint session. At 1am.

Since 2016, Kelce’s childhood friend Kumar Ferguson has been in charge of his diet. Kelce, who needs around 4,000 calories a day, once said: ‘Whatever he’s feeding me is keeping me young.’

French toast and strawberries have been his pre-game snack of choice ever since he arrived in Kansas City. Kelce’s other meals consist of ‘steaks, chops, chicken [with] a modern flair’, Ferguson said in 2023. 

‘When he was in college, he’d be going home back to Cleveland and at 2, 3am. His dad would be outside on the back porch, grilling filets for us,’ Ferguson added, ‘that’s just been instilled in him.’

Now it helps fuel his work on the field.

‘[Kelce’s] got a big personality, but the majority of the time when he’s in that locker room, he’s locked in on the work that has to be done,’ kicker Harrison Butker said.

Linebacker Drue Tranquill agrees: ‘He’s just got the right mentality. He never wants to miss a rep in practice, and he sets the tone… it’s crazy.’

‘As guys get older, typically you’ll see them – maybe in a six-play rack they’ll take three of the plays… Travis is taking every one of his reps,’ Tranquill said. ‘He’s catching the ball and then literally sprinting down to the end zone… those are the habits that you want.’

Offensive ᴀssistant Kevin Saxton heaped praise on the тιԍнт end’s ability not to grow ‘weary’ and to keep doing ‘those little things that got him to where he is today’.

Over recent years, few players have had a better view of Kelce than Noah Gray, the Chiefs’ back-up тιԍнт end. Two things stand out. ‘His work ethic and his resiliency,’ Gray said. ‘He always comes to work and keeps his head down. He’s a super humble dude… always grinding with us.’

Gray, a fifth-round draft pick in 2021, claims Kelce never takes a single rep ‘for granted’.

‘He’s just got the right mentality. He never wants to miss a rep,’ Drue Tranquill said of Kelce

‘It’s just something that will probably stick with me for the rest of my career… he practices like a pro. He’s been doing it ever since I got there, and it’s just something that has gone on to everybody in the building,’ Gray said. ‘When you see a leader like that who’s been in the league for 10-plus years, and he’s still practicing as hard as he does, it makes you want to practice just as hard.’

‘It’s so cool to play with him and just watch him work,’ guard Joe Thuney said. ‘There’s always stuff you can glean… just his consistency, day in and day out.’

That drive is rooted in a deeply-ingrained affection for his craft. ‘The biggest thing with Travis is that he just loves the game so much,’ defense end George Karlaftis said. ‘[Even] with everything he’s got going on off the field.’

‘He continues to approach it as if he’s a rookie,’ Saxton added.

But Kelce’s enthusiasm is being tested by time. Following this month’s Super Bowl, he opened up on the ‘tough reality’ of feeling your powers wane ‘as you tail off towards the back nine of your career.’ 

Kelce said: ‘[Not to] have the success that you once used to have, it’s a tough pill to swallow… to not be there in the biggest moments, knowing your team’s counting on you. Those are all extremely hard.’

But others in Kansas City don’t share that sense of doom. ‘Trav is a warrior. He seems like he’s got the energy of a 20-year-old,’ Butker insists. ‘I know he’d say he’s probably slowing down… but he still has so much athletic ability to still produce on the field.’

Saxton points out that Kelce is a victim of his sustained success because teams now look for ‘ways to try to contain him’.

Only four тιԍнт ends amᴀssed more receiving yards in 2024 than Kelce (823). But it was his lowest return since 2014 and the 35-year-old struggled too leave a mark on Super Bowl LIX.

‘I wouldn’t look at it as production dropping,’ Saxton insists. ‘I just think that everyone has us on their schedule, right? And so they’re going to find ways to stop No 87 as best as they can.’

All the signs suggest that opponents will have to keep mining for answers. For at least one more year.