Much to the delight of Kansas City Chiefs fans, Travis Kelce is coming back for at least one more season with the team. A painful Super Bowl loss has motivated the legendary team to give it one more go, with no commitment beyond the 2025 season. Kelce gave the decision plenty of thought, but he clearly felt like his body could handle another full year of football.
Meanwhile, he will continue his podcast off the field with brother Jason Kelce. Jason, like Travis, floated around the idea of retirement a couple of times during the twilight of his career. Ultimately, he called it quits following the 2023 season, one year before the Philadelphia Eagles beat Travis’ Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Now fully detached from the gridiron, Jason has shed a lot of weight, but his body is feeling the effects of the game more so than before.
Jason Kelce feels his body breaking down following football
On this week’s “New Heights” episode, Travis was talking about attending Tight End University again. Travis then mentioned to his brother that he could play tight end, since his current weight is 270. Jason wholeheartedly disagreed, mainly because his body is breaking down.
My ankles, knees and back won’t let me. It’s getting bad… I don’t know if it’s like, the moment you retire mentally, your body retires too. Physically, I’m trying to lift weights, I keep straining muscles. Now it’s like actually an issue. My ankle, playing golf last week, is inflamed. I can’t squat now because my ankle hurts. I can’t bench because I strained my pecs.
Jason is now 37 years old and a year and a half removed from his last official NFL game. It’s not uncommon for football players to feel the effects of their playing careers shortly after retirement. That’s especially true in the first couple of years after hanging up the cleats, since they’re not training consistently like they would be if they were preparing for a full NFL season.
Jason’s comments could serve as a warning to Travis; perhaps in a twofold way. Travis may want to play for as long as his body allows him to, because as soon as he mentally retires, his body will shortly follow. On the other hand, Travis may want to stop playing as soon as possible, in order for his body to not feel so brittle once he retires.
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