As if it wasn’t a big enough day for Travis Kelce already, the Wall Street Journal chose Monday to release a new profile about the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, which includes insights about his love life and possible retirement.
The piece got Kelce fans even more excited for Monday night’s Super Bowl rematch between the Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, including Kelce’s brother, Jason.
At the game, Kelce’s parents are expected to meet his girlfriend Taylor Swift’s parents for the first time, Entertainment Tonight reported.
Swift is not expected be in attendance though. Instead, she will be performing her rescheduled “Eras Tour” show in Brazil.
What did Travis Kelce say about retirement?
In the Wall Street Journal interview, Kelce said that retirement is never far from his mind and that he thinks about it “more than anyone could ever imagine” because of the physical toll football takes on his body.
“That’s the only thing I’ve never really been open about,” he said. “The discomfort. The pain. The lingering injuries — the 10 surgeries I’ve had that I still feel every single surgery to this day.”
Just this season, the tight end missed the season opener after hyperextending his knee and missed part of the Chiefs game against the Vikings due to an ankle injury.
How did Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift meet?
Kelce previously shared on the “New Heights” podcast he co-hosts with his brother that he went to Swift’s concert in Kansas City and planned to give her a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it. The two were unable to meet but his story caught fire on the internet.
He told the Wall Street Journal that Swift later informed him that he “had somebody playing Cupid” in her inner circle that helped make the two of them talking and meeting a reality.
“There were definitely people she knew that knew who I was, in her corner (who said): ‘Yo! Did you know he was coming?’ I had somebody playing Cupid,” he said. “She told me exactly what was going on and how I got lucky enough to get her to reach out.”
Swift’s “little cousins” taking photos in front of his locker when Swift used the team’s locker room as a dressing room during her Kansas City room helped the tight end out too, which is a story he said “she’ll probably hate me for” sharing.
What did Travis Kelce say about wanting to get paid more?
Kelce is the second highest-paid tight end this season, making $14.8 million, and the third-highest based on the total value of his contract, according to Over The Cap. Next season, he’ll make less than former BYU quarterback turned Saints “Swiss Army knife” Taysom Hill, who will make $15.8 million.
He doesn’t see himself making wide receiver-type money in the future as the WSJ insinuated he deserves. He wouldn’t want to rock the Chiefs’ boat to earn a raise, he said.
Kelce pointed out how things “get ugly” when players holdout for a new contract.
“Unfortunately, in this business, things gotta get ugly, they gotta get unpleasant (if you want more money), and I’m a pleasant son of a buck,” he said.
