Jason Kelce Tells Brother Travis to Take His Time Weighing Retirement Decision

The Chiefs will round out their season with games against the Tennessee Titans, the Denver Broncos, and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Jason Kelce (L) and Travis Kelce (R) stand at the 16th tee box during the first round of the American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nevada, on July 11, 2025. Eakin Howard/Getty Images

Jason Kelce wants his younger brother to take his time making a retirement decision.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is 36 years old and 13 years into his NFL career. The three-time Super Bowl champion floated the possibility of retirement last season, but elected to return. With the Chiefs eliminated from playoff contention and his quarterback out for the season with a torn ACL, Kelce is dealing with a lot of emotions. Jason said he should let those feelings subside before he makes a decision.

“I think everybody’s probably curious about what your brother will do,” ESPN host Scott Van Pelt said to Kelce on “Monday Night Countdown.” “You went through the process, and I understand he‘ll have a process to go through. Is there a sense of how he’ll approach that?”

“Well, I’m curious, too,” Jason said. “I think, in my opinion, to nail that decision, you’ve got to step away from the game for a little bit. Play these last three games. Enjoy them with your teammates. Enjoy them with your coaches. The team’s going to be different no matter whether you come back or not next year. So, enjoy these last three games and then let it sink in.”

The Chiefs will round out their season with a visit to the 2-12 Tennessee Titans, a Christmas Day home game against the conference-leading Denver Broncos, and an away game against the AFC West stragglers, the 2-12 Las Vegas Raiders.

Travis will have to play those final games without the quarterback who led him to those three Super Bowl rings. Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL in the Dec. 14 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. He had surgery to repair it on Monday. Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew will start the final three games. Chris Oladokun, who has been with the team since 2022, is currently on the practice squad.

He will also have to deal with the emotions stemming from missing the playoffs for just the second time in his career. After a reign of nine consecutive seasons as winners of the AFC West, the Chiefs were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss to the Chargers.

“It‘ll come to you with time,” Jason said. “There’s so many emotions with this game right after a season, especially with the way this one has been so up and down. I mean, they’re 1-7 in one-score games. They’ve been close, and for right now, it’s just too fresh. You’ve got to step away from it. You’ve got to think about it, and then it’ll come to you.”

Van Pelt quoted sportscaster Mike Tirico, who said that the hardest thing for a player, especially an all-time great like Travis Kelce, is to leave the game because they always want to walk away on their terms, but the nature of the sport does not often allow them to do that.

Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers during the game at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sept. 5, 2025 Buda Mendes/Getty Images

If he does decide to walk away, he will go down as one of the best tight ends in the game.

He owns records for 1,000-yard receiving seasons by a tight end (7), the most receiving yards in a season by a tight end (1,416), seasons with 100+ catches (3), 100-yard games (37), and the shortest time to achieve 10,000 receiving yards. He is also the Chiefs franchise record holder in career receptions (1,064), receiving yards (12,878), and receiving touchdowns (82). He is a 7-time All-Pro and a 10-time Pro Bowler.

His brother recounted his experience during his final game, when the Philadelphia Eagles lost the 2023-24 Wild Card playoffs to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Eagles had just gone through a late-season collapse, losing five of their final six games before being trounced by the Bucs 32-9. Kelce retired in March 2024.

“You know, I walked off crying in Tampa Bay,” he said. “It was a rough one. Most players don’t leave it when they want to.”

Travis has previously indicated that he would make his decision at the end of the year.

“The season kind of restarts in April, and I want to give the Chiefs a good opportunity, whether I come back or not, or vice versa, whether they want me back or not,” the younger Kelce told reporters in November.

“It’s one of those things where I’d like to make that decision before they’ve got to get draft picks and free agency opens. It gives them the opportunity to go out there and to fill the roster appropriately. So, all that will be at the end of the season. I won’t be thinking about it until then.”