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Travis Kelce admits NFL performance 'slipped' while pursuing acting career
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- Travis Kelce admits NFL performance 'slipped' while pursuing acting career
Travis Kelce said out loud what some NFL observers were thinking the past two seasons.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end went from being a football star to a crossover pop culture star when he began dating Taylor Swift two years ago and that attention came with opportunities to expand his horizons. Nearing the end of his football career, Kelce had his eye on some other projects in Hollywood and the entertainment world.
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But those off-field endeavors came with distraction and a price on the football field the past two seasons, Kelce admitted recently.
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"I think it might have slipped a little bit because I did have a little bit more focus in trying to set myself up. And opportunities came up where I was excited to venture in a new world of acting and being an entertainer," Kelce said in an interview with GQ for a cover story released Tuesday . "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."
"I just have such a motivation to show up this year for my guys," he added.
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The statistics back up what Kelce observed about his performance.
Though his 97 catches last season were in line with his career average, Kelce finished with the fewest receiving yards (823) and touchdowns (3) of his career aside from his rookie year when he appeared in just one game. He also averaged a career-low 8.5 yards per catch. He had 93 catches for 984 yards and five touchdowns in 2023, which snapped a league-record streak of seven-straight seasons with more than 1,000 receiving yards. Kelce, 35, is entering his 13th season in the NFL in 2025. He was even asked ahead of Super Bowl 59 whether he had "lost a step."
The GQ cover story details that Kelce returned to working out with Fort Lauderdale–based speed-and-agility coach Tony Villani this offseason to help prepare for this season. The two hadn't been together in recent years after Kelce moved his offseason base to the Los Angeles area.
Kelce recently had a cameo role in "Happy Gilmore 2" and served as the host of "Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity" on Amazon Prime. He also co-hosts the popular "New Heights" podcast with his brother, former Philadelphia Eagles center and current ESPN NFL analyst Jason Kelce , which is reportedly worth $100 million after being licensed by Wonderly last year.
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Travis Kelce has the most postseason receptions in NFL history and he's one of just three tight ends in league history with more than 1,000 career receptions. He trails only Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten in career receiving yards among tight ends. Kelce has one season remaining on his contract with the Chiefs , and made his intentions this year clear after falling short in the Super Bowl last season.
"Win a Super Bowl is the only goal," Kelce said. "It's the only goal. It's every goal."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Travis Kelce admits NFL performance has 'slipped' past two years
