Travis Kelce, tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, openly admitted that his ventures outside of football affected his game last season.
“I think it might have slipped a little bit because I did have a little bit more focus in trying to set myself up,” Kelce, 35, shared in a recent GQ cover story published on August 12. “Opportunities came up where I was excited to venture into a new world of acting and being an entertainer.”
His acting debut came last year in FX’s Grotesquerie, where he portrayed Ed Laclan, a hospital orderly, in the Ryan Murphy-produced series. Additionally, he hosted the Prime Video game show Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?, filmed during the previous offseason.
These new professional pursuits coincided with a decline in his performance metrics, as Kelce recorded career lows of 823 receiving yards and just three touchdowns last season.
“I don’t say this as ‘I shouldn’t have done it,’” he clarified. “I’m just saying that my work ethic is such that I have so much pride in how I do things that I never want the product to tail off, and I feel like these past two years haven’t been to my standard.”
Kelce expressed a strong desire to improve this season, stating, “I just have such a motivation to show up this year for my guys.”
In Super Bowl LIX, Kelce's performance was notably underwhelming, with only four catches for 39 yards during the Chiefs' 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. This marked a significant drop from his previous Super Bowl appearances, where he had never caught fewer than six passes.
This offseason, Kelce has focused intensely on physical conditioning, declaring, “Win a Super Bowl is the only goal. It’s the only goal. It’s every goal.”
He rented a luxurious $20 million home in Boca Raton, Florida, where he spent time with his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, as he prepares for his 13th NFL season.
A key component of his training has involved working with speed-and-agility coach Tony Villani from Fort Lauderdale. Villani has implemented speed drills aimed at helping Kelce regain his former athletic prowess.
“I started to realize that when you got too fast, you couldn’t decelerate,” Villani explained. “All Travis is trying to do to the linebacker or safety is make him chase him. Once that linebacker or safety chases him and runs, he’s out of control.”
Villani further noted, “Travis plays between 12 and 16 miles per hour. That’s it. If he goes past his zone, then he turns into a track athlete and can’t change direction. He caught a pass in the Super Bowl three years ago and he jumped it up to 19 miles an hour, the fastest speed he hit in three years. He’s set every tight end record known to man without ever really being above 19. This is what he’s an artist at.”
The Chiefs are set to kick off their 2025 regular season against the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil on September 5.
