Travis Kelce is blaming his declining play on his rising stardom in Hollywood.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end has always had an outsized personality. With the Super Bowl success of the Chiefs and his high-profile relationship with Taylor Swift, Kelce has seen the number of his off-field projects skyrocket. But that has not necessarily helped his play on the field.
In a recent interview with Variety, Kelce partly blamed “acting and being an entertainer” for his declining play over the last two seasons.
Kelce spoke candidly about the issue when asked about the Chiefs’ recent Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in February.
“I think it might have slipped a little bit because I did have a little bit more focus in trying to set myself up,” said Kelce. “And opportunities came up where I was excited to venture into a new world of acting and being an entertainer.”
“I don’t say this as ‘I shouldn’t have done it. 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, who recently starred in “Happy Gilmore 2,” added that he has added “motivation” this coming season to get back to his All-Pro standard, particularly to “show up for my guys.”
After seven straight seasons of tallying over 1,000 receiving yards from 2016 to 2022, Kelce dipped below that number in 2023 and 2024. He also recorded just eight touchdowns combined in those two seasons.
Kelce may be promising to perform better next season. But that doesn’t mean he’s shying away from the off-field spotlight entirely, having just recently dropped a “New Heights” podcast episode with Swift.
