Kelce admits challenges after ‘pretty taxing’ year

Adam Teicher, ESPN Staff WriterJul 27, 2024, 02:11 PM ET
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- Covered Chiefs for 20 seasons for Kansas City Star
- Joined ESPN in 2013

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Travis Kelce acknowledged that between his advancing age — he turns 35 in October — and following Taylor Swift on tour internationally during the offseason, it was more of a challenge than usual to prepare himself for the upcoming season.

“Last year was pretty taxing on my body,” Kelce said after the Kansas City Chiefs finished a training camp practice at Missouri Western State University on Saturday. “I’ve had more snaps than a lot of guys if not everybody in the NFL over the past five, six years, and I’m very prideful of that, but I know it has taken a toll on my body.

“So it’s just making sure that my body’s getting that rest and that ability to train harder and be able to withstand an entire 17-to-20-game season.”

The Chiefs added a pair of tight ends in the offseason, drafting Jared Wiley in the fourth round and signing veteran free agent Irv Smith. They also return tight end Noah Gray, who was fourth on the Chiefs with 28 catches last year.

There has been no indication that the Chiefs plan to reduce Kelce’s role. Almost a week into training camp, Kelce hasn’t taken a day of rest and doesn’t sound like he plans to.

“This is my sanctuary,” Kelce said. “St. Joe, Year 12. That means I’ve spent just about an entire year of my life up here in the dorms. Everybody may say that is pretty grueling, but I enjoy it. There’s something about this place to get you ready every single year, and I’m not going to lie, I got pretty excited as the time started counting down to get out here and get this thing rolling.

“This is where it all starts. You can say it starts in the offseason, and yeah, you want to get that foundation set in the offseason of the leadership and the mentality and things like that. But at the end of the day, this is where you really find out what the team is made of, how you sharpen the iron, how your guys practice your practice habits, the attention to detail, and nobody does it better than Coach [Andy] Reid.”

Kelce works with several personal trainers, saying, “I’ve got guys all over the place.” Otherwise, he said he hasn’t changed his offseason preparation dramatically since early in his career.

“Over every single season you find ways to get better at what works for you, [eliminate] what doesn’t, and you just want to amp it up every single year so that you keep finding ways to kind of climb that staircase of success,” Kelce said. “I would say I’m doing some things differently but nothing really in the grand scheme of things. Just putting my nose to the grinder.”