Travis Kelce #87, Chris Jones #95 and Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrate with the Lamar Hunt Trophy as Jim Nantz looks on after a 17-10 victory against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game at M&T Bank Stadium on January 28, 2024 in Baltimore
Travis Kelce made his intentions clear about returning to the Kansas City Chiefs with a message that quickly energized teammates and fans.
Shortly after confirming he would return for a 14th NFL season, Kelce shared a hype video on Instagram celebrating his time with the Chiefs and the relationships he has built inside the organization. The post featured clips of Kelce alongside quarterback Patrick Mahomes, defensive lineman Chris Jones, head coach Andy Reid, center Creed Humphrey, and other teammates.
Kelce captioned the video with a message that signaled his excitement for the upcoming season.
“Let’s get this thing rockin!! 🏹🏟️,” Kelce wrote.
The post quickly drew reactions from teammates. Mahomes was among the first to respond in the comments.
“LFGGGGGGG!!!!!” Mahomes wrote.
Humphrey also chimed in with a similar reaction.
“Run it back LFG!!!!!” Humphrey wrote.
Travis Kelce Says He Knew Midseason He Wanted to Return
Kelce recently explained that his decision to return for another season had been forming for months.
Speaking on his “New Heights” podcast, Kelce said he began feeling confident about coming back around the middle of the season.
“About midway through the season,” Kelce said when asked when he knew he would likely return.
Even though he had a strong feeling he would continue playing, Kelce said he waited before making the decision public. He explained that he wanted time to process the emotions that followed the Chiefs’ disappointing season.
“I’ve made decisions based off of emotions, and, you know, they haven’t always played out the right way,” Kelce said. “So I think taking a step back, letting the emotions settle down.”
Kelce said the outcome of the season played a major role in his motivation to return.
“Of course, I don’t want to end my career not making the playoffs, not having one of the best years, and definitely having a down year and all that,” Kelce said.
Ultimately, he said the competitive drive remained strong.
“It still felt like I was hungry enough to get back at it,” Kelce said. “And obviously there’s still a little bit of that grit and that emotion that, you know, I hated the way that (stuff) ended last year. And I want to do this. I want to make it right.”
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Kelce also spoke about his excitement to continue playing alongside Mahomes and Jones, two of the Chiefs’ longtime leaders.
“I’m just as excited to be joining forces with those two guys, man,” Kelce said on the podcast.
Kelce explained that the trio had conversations after the season ended about how the team plans to respond.
“And I think we all kind of had talks at the end of the season,” Kelce said. “Like I said, I was always pretty optimistic that I was coming back.”
Kelce added that the leaders on the roster have already begun focusing on how to improve heading into the next season.
“We kind of talked about some of these things as the season ended, like, man, how are we going to never let it get to this point again?”
Jones previously predicted that Kelce would return after the season ended.
“He’ll be back next year,” Jones said at the time. “I can’t promise nothing, but this year was a tricky year for us and I got faith in my dawg coming back.”
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport later reported that the Chiefs informed the rest of the league that Kelce would return for a 14th season with Kansas City.
Mahomes also appeared to confirm the news with a post on Instagram that featured two photos of himself with Kelce alongside two emojis: an alarm clock and a bow and arrow.