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Travis Kelce did not address rumours that he intends to retire as he contemplated his team’s heavy defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
The Kansas City Chiefs star will turn 36 at the start of next season, an age at which most NFL players have long since retired, and he has already built a lucrative off-field career, which includes a series of endorsements and a wildly popular podcast with his brother, Jason.
Kelce did not attend the postgame press conference in the Superdome after the Chiefs’ 40-22 loss to the Eagles but did briefly answer questions in the locker room. “We haven’t played that bad all year,” said Kelce. “[We] just couldn’t find that spark, couldn’t find that momentum.”
Related: Merciless Philadelphia Eagles dismantle Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl
Kelce is already a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is a 10-time Pro Bowler, has the most postseason receptions of anyone in NFL history and the most career receiving yards of any Chiefs player. His four catches for 39 yards on Sunday gave him another NFL record: the most career Super Bowl receptions, overtaking Jerry Rice, the greatest receiver of all time.
Kelce’s quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, said he hopes the tight end continues his career.
“He knows he has a lot of football left in him. You can see it, he always makes plays in the biggest moments, but it’s if he wants to put in that grind. It’s a grind out there to play 20 games, or whatever it is, and get to a Super Bowl. He’s done enough to be a gold-jacket guy, a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” said Mahomes. “I know he still has love for the game and he’ll get to spend some time with his family and make that decision on his own, but he knows he’ll come back here with open arms.”
Mahomes had one of the worst games of his career, and was intercepted twice, including one that was returned for a touchdown by Eagles rookie Cooper DeJean. The Chiefs star acknowledged he had not been at his best.
“They played better than us from start to finish,” Mahomes said. “We didn’t start how we wanted to. The turnovers hurt. I take all the blame for that. Those turnovers swing the moment of the game and they capitalized on them. They scored on one and got a touchdown immediately after another. That’s 14 points I gave them. It’s hard to come back from that in the Super Bowl. I didn’t play to my standard, and I have to be better next time.”
The Chiefs were going for an unprecedented third championship in a row. Now they must start the quest for that mark afresh.
The Eagles, meanwhile, gained revenge for their loss to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl two seasons ago. Their quarterback, Jalen Hurts, was compared unfavourably to Mahomes coming into Sunday’s game but was named Super Bowl MVP after a superb performance.
“I’ll always be the same guy,” Hurts said. “I was telling someone that I’m the same kid that came to a national championship and lost, went back and got benched and had to transfer and had to go through this unprecedented journey. That kid always kept the main thing the main thing and always was true to his vision of what he saw. It all began with greater leadership and doing it the right way.”
There was also history for Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. His 57 rushing yards meant he broke Terrell Davis’s record of 2,476 yards in a season, playoffs included.
“She looked prettier in person, I’ll tell you that,” Barkley said of the Lombardi Trophy. “Something that you dream of. I’m just happy to hold it, be able to give it a kiss.”
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