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Travis Kelce is entering the divisional round after one of his worst regular-season showings ever: 823 yards and three touchdowns - both career lows – on 97 catches. That has led to speculation that he might retire after the season, but he is not thinking about it – not at least for now.
On sports commentator Stephen A. Smith's show on Wednesday, the Kansas City Chiefs star tight end said (Timestamp: 26:14):
"I love everything that I'm doing in this building. But at the end of the day, I'm not having that extreme success on the field as I have individually, man. I'm excited for these next couple games to play up at Arrowhead, to finish this season off."
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He continued:
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"I'll reevaluate (my career) as I always do. And I'll probably tell myself how much I love this thing. ... It's something you have to keep in perspective, man. I never want to get to the point where I'm not helping this team win or I'm hurting this team more than I'm helping this team."
He also denied the notion that his pop megastar girlfriend Taylor Swift was trying to encourage him to retire:
"She's fully encouraging me to enjoy playing this game. She loves coming to Arrowhead and coming to the games and cheering for me, so I got all the support in the world to keep chasing these dreams."
Travis Kelce explains how Taylor Swift inspires him as a player
The Travis Kelce-Tarlor Swift relationship can be considered the most lucrative in sports history, serving to drive up revenues and ratings for both the Chiefs and the league. But according to the multiple-time Pro Bowler, it has also served to motivate him as he nears the end of a highly accomplished and storied playing career.
In that same interview, he said:
“The beauty of being in a very strong relationship is that you get that support to be able to come in and focus on your craft, focus on being the best version of you… I’m as focused as I’ve ever been on my job and being the best player that I could possibly be week in, week out for this team. And it’s because I don’t have to worry about things off the field.”
The Chiefs-Houston Texans game kicks off at 4:30 PM ET on ESPN/ABC.
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