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Whereas the swirl of chatter round Travis Kelce on Christmas Day was on whether or not he plans to retire on the finish of the season, the 11-time Professional Bowl tight finish quietly moved as much as No. 9 on the NFL all-time receiving record.
Kelce’s fifth and final catch within the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ 20-13 loss to the Denver Broncos was No. 1,077, pushing him previous Anquan Boldin. With two extra receptions within the Chiefs’ regular-season finale, Kelce will surpass Terrell Owens within the No. 8 spot.
Statistics have been seemingly the very last thing on Kelce’s thoughts as he walked off the Arrowhead Stadium area on Thursday, maybe for the final time. The Chiefs end the season on the highway subsequent week towards the Las Vegas Raiders.
Kelce’s latest years are inextricably linked to his fiance Taylor Swift. Was this the final time the music megastar would grace the Kelce household luxurious suite to look at her beau rack up the receptions? (If that’s the case, let the file present that Swift wore a crimson bomber jacket from the Frankie Store.)
Kelce, 36, admitted he was feeling reflective afterward.
“An entire lot of feelings,” he informed reporters. “You’ve received everyone on the earth watching you. You get to go on the market with the younger guys on prime-time tv. Younger guys getting a possibility to style what this NFL life is like.”
For Kelce, the NFL life has been fulfilling. He’s gained three Tremendous Bowls and is all however sure to be inducted into the Corridor of Fame. And he’s performed his complete 13-year profession with the Chiefs.
So whereas he sorted via feelings and recollections after the sport, he basked within the adulation beforehand.
“You solely get a number of of these the place you get to face there and admire 70,000 Chiefs followers cheering for you,” he defined. “I all the time embrace that second.
“You’re feeling the generations of happiness and the love [the fans] have. It’s a ravishing factor, man.”
For a decade, Kelce was a regional sports activities determine, revered within the Midwest as a hard-nosed, constant producer on the sphere. His profile started to alter forward of the 2022 season when he and his brother, Jason, launched an instantly in style podcast, “New Heights.”
Kelce and Swift started relationship forward of the 2023 season, and a yr later, the Kelce brothers signed a three-year, $100 million podcast cope with Amazon’s Wondery. Then in August, Kelce and Swift introduced their engagement.
Tight ends, with their three-point stances and proximity to tackles and guards, historically don’t search or entice consideration. However Kelce is now a full-fledged nationwide movie star.
Simply don’t permit that to obscure his numbers. Kelce has 73 catches for 839 yards in 2025, placing him alongside Jerry Rice as the one gamers in NFL historical past to eclipse the 800‐yards receiving mark in 12 consecutive seasons. Kelce is also the one tight finish to exceed 90 catches for seven seasons in a row, a streak that can finish this yr.
Rice, the previous San Francisco 49ers nice, is the NFL‘s all-time main receiver with 1,549 catches. Larry Fitzgerald is subsequent with 1,432. Then come the one tight ends with extra catches than Kelce: Tony Gonzalez (1,325) and Jason Witten (1,228).
Ought to Kelce determine to play one other season, he virtually definitely would climb to No. 5, passing Marvin Harrison (1,102), Cris Carter (1,101) and Tim Brown (1,094) along with Owens.
Kelce might have already determined whether or not that is the proper time to retire. He simply isn’t able to say so, indicating he’ll let the Chiefs know quickly after the season ends.
“I’ll let that be a choice I’ll make with my household, mates and the Chiefs group when the time comes,” he mentioned.
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