Much talk has been had about Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and whether he plans to retire after the 2024-25 NFL season ends.
One of his teammates sent a message to Kelce about that possibility.
Charles Omenihu Sends Travis Kelce a Message
Before Kelce calls it a career, Charles Omenihu had this message for his tight end: “We can’t go out like that,” he said, speaking about the Chiefs’ 40-22 Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Omenihu thinks that Kelce is not done with football yet.
“This would be my message to Trav: ‘Big dawg, like, we, the whole organization, can’t go out like that,'” Omenihu said on Thursday, Feb. 13 on Fox Sports’ “The Facility.”
"We can't go out like that." — @charless_94 @EmmanuelAcho and @charless_94 discuss if Travis Kelce should retire pic.twitter.com/YJzq8QRa7w
— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) February 13, 2025
“He’s a Hall of Famer from the moment he says, ‘I’m done,’ right?” Omenihu said of Kelce. “But I think Trav has a lot left; I think Trav is an extreme competitor; I think he’s somebody that loves the game. I think in the storied career that he’s had, going out like that, in my opinion, wouldn’t be something that he would do.”
Kelce has been contemplating retirement since the Super Bowl and talked about it recently on his podcast “New Heights.”
“It’s gonna sting,” Kelce, 35, said on the Wednesday, Feb. 12, episode of his podcast. “I know everybody wants to know whether or not I’m playing next year and right now I’m just kicking everything down the road. … I’m not making any crazy decisions, but right now the biggest thing is just being there for my teammates and being there for my coaches, understanding that a lot that goes into this thing.”
“You know, I’ve been fortunate over the past five, six years — I’ve played more football than anybody. And it’s because the people that are in that building and the fact that we keep going to these AFC Championships and these Super Bowls, that means I’m playing an extra three games more than everybody else in the entire league.
“That’s a lot of wear and tear on your body, and it’s a lot of time spent in the building focusing on your craft, focusing on the task at hand … and that process can be grueling. It can weigh on you.”
Reports are that the Chiefs have set a deadline for Kelce to give them an answer. He has said in the past that he still enjoys playing the game, but it sounds like he is leaning toward retiring, though it is too soon to be certain.
Kelce added, “I think that it happens as you kind of tail off toward the back nine of your career … as you see yourself or not feel yourself have the success that you once used to have — man, it’s a tough pill to swallow.”
“And then on top of that, to not be there in the biggest moments, knowing your team’s counting on you … it’s just a tough reality.”