Kansas City’s superstar tight end met with local media on Tuesday ahead of the team’s season opening contest with Baltimore.
A year can make a big difference in the NFL.
As the Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Detroit Lions to open the 2023 season, star tight end Travis Kelce watched from the sideline after injuring his knee in practice leading up to the game.
By winning their second Super Bowl in as many seasons, the Chiefs will again open the season on Thursday against the Baltimore Ravens. After missing last year’s kickoff game, the league’s arguably most famous non-quarterback is not taking this showcase for granted.
“I’m forever fortunate,” Kelce said to reporters after Tuesday’s practice, “to be able to play as many games as I’ve played already in this league. That’s why I really enjoy going out there every single day, even if it’s just a practice, to really work on my craft because I know not everybody gets that same fortune in their career. I’m ready to rock Week 1, and I’m thankful for it.”
Kelce believes he has found the right balance to keep his body healthy after being limited by injury to start last season.
“Physically,” he explained, “I feel just as good, if not more ready, than I have been in years past. Just because you get more comfortable with your body, you learn things from you from the mistakes you made in the years past and things like that. You just constantly keep getting better and keep getting more aware of where your body’s at.”
Health is not the only way Kelce feels more prepared than earlier in his career as he enters his 13th professional season.
“Completely different,” he declared of his veteran understanding of the nuances of the sport. “You’re just more comfortable, more aware the system, [and] the routines. You feel like you get just that much more of a heads up — or you’re kind of more advanced in terms of understanding scheme and things like that and just how you’re supposed to attack your opponent.”
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Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images
Kelce admits that unforeseen health issues may cause him to change his seasonal routine.
“We’ll see what challenges occur throughout the season,” he predicted. I think I’ve caught a good routine and a good groove of making sure that I’m at peak athletic ability to go out there and perform every single week. You just never know the nicks and the bumps and bruises that you get throughout the season. You might have to pick up something new along the way.”
Even after last year’s health scare, Kelce claims the Chiefs have not talked to him about a reduced role to prolong his career. Doing so would likely be a fruitless endeavor.
“No,” he confirmed. “I probably wouldn’t listen to them if they did.”
Ultimately, what offensive weapon would want to limit their time paired with the league’s best quarterback in Patrick Mahomes? The relationship between the two has been well documented over the last half-decade.
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Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images
“It’s the day-to-day stuff,” Kelce noted, “that makes it fun when you’re in the building with Pat Mahomes. He shows up, and he has a good time doing it — week in, week out, day in, day out. That’s the type of guy you want to come in to work with,”
In his remarks Tuesday, Kelce stressed that it is more than being around Mahomes that makes him love playing for the Chiefs.
“It’s just fun building those relationships throughout the building,” said Kelce. “Obviously, Pat is the one you guys see for the most part. But there’s a bunch of guys and women in this building that I hold dear, and I treat them like family. It’s because of just the type of people that the Kansas City Chiefs have been able to bring in.”
Kelce’s leadership has long been cited by his teammates as helping them cope with difficult stretches of the season. The tight end recalled words from his college coach at Cincinnati to elaborate his mindset in motivating his peers.
“What you’ve got to understand,” Kelce stressed, “is the goal and the team’s mindset is bigger than you, and everybody needs you to be at your best. My college coach Butch Jones always told me that you’re a fountain or drain, baby. You don’t want to be draining anybody out here, man. Give people life.”
