Travis Kelce is pushing through the pain in his age-34 season, as he revealed this week he’ll only voluntarily leave the field due to fatigue.The Chiefs tight end has spoken recently of the toll that his 10 surgeries have had on his body, as he admitted to the Wall Street Journal that retiring goes through his mind ‘more than anyone could ever imagine.’
But unless coach Andy Reid substitutes him out, he said, he’s not really planning to take plays off.’The only time I’m ever coming off the field, like me personally coming off the field, is if I feel like I’m just too exhausted, or I’ve just had so many plays in a row, or I just had a big play where I had a big hit or something,’ he told reporters ahead of Kansas City’s trip to Lambeau Field to play the Packers.
‘Those are the only times you’ll see me come off the field. Outside of that, it’s all just whatever the game plan is – and I’m always on board with that. Whoever is out there on the field, you know obviously I wanna be out there helping my teammates out, but I’m not looking at my snap count on how many plays I’m playing per game or anything like that.’
The tight end played 77 percent of offensive snaps vs. the Raiders after taking the field for 94 percent vs. the Eagles the week prior’That’s the only thing I’ve never really been open about, the discomfort. The pain, he told the Wall Street Journal. ‘The lingering injuries – the 10 surgeries I’ve had that I still feel every single surgery to this day.’
Last month Kelce also opened up on his ‘New Heights’ podcast with his brother Jason, saying, ‘The surgeries take a toll, man. They take a toll. I was unfortunate I got the knee surgery but fortunate I haven’t had any problems with that situation since then.’
Later, Jason asked, ‘What bothers you the most?”I don’t know if I want to say,’ Travis said. ‘I don’t want to tell, I don’t want to give this to defenses.’While Travis has at times looked his age this season, he’s still having a strong season for the Chiefs with 732 receiving yards and five touchdowns in attendance.And he’ll surely get a boost vs. the Packers with his girlfriend Taylor Swift expected to be in attendance.
