Well, if it's hard to stay motivated, then this isn't his game anymore. As much as I hate to say it, it looks like it's time to hang them up. I remember a couple of those plays as they happened, and it didn't really sink in how much of non-effort he was giving. And when they show him sitting on the bench and he's by himself, I was concerned this may be it.

Hope not.... but father time is not your ally in sports.
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I don’t know man. We’re questioning a guy who has been consistently a dawg and we’re making a lot of accusations. I trust the history. Something seemed off. I don’t know if our guys weren’t feeling well or just knew we were terribly outmatched. Everywhere on the sideline we had uncharacteristic body language and I never doubt Reid’s ability to keep these guys focused and motivated.

I’m looking forward to the next New Heights episode. Because this guy has earned every benefit of the doubt. Until then I’m going to chalk it up to burnout. And that’s a pretty reasonable excuse. I guess we should have seen the signs when he quickly flipped from being excited to play to suddenly considering retirement. I don’t want to go there that the ultimate teammate and competitor just decided on impulse that he just didn’t care anymore
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Remember in that Rocky movie when his trainer told him the worst thing that can happen to a fighter is getting domesticated? (I'm paraphrasing bigly lol). Well... that's what I'm seeing with Travis.

Rocky got beat down soon after and it was shocking. The rest of the script has yet to be written. You couldn't see Rocky hanging them up after that fight. It's hard to see Travis doing it.
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Considering how good Travis was in the Buffalo game at all of the little things, I doubt it had anything to do with effort.
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If Kelce returns the Chiefs are going to have to restructure his $19 million cap # and be realistic about his role in 2025… a situational player in the red zone/third downs… similar to Antonio Gates at the end of his career.

Also they need a commitment from Kelce that he’ll be 100% focused on football and ensure that he’s in optimal condition entering the season.
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Yea he'd be out if they went at him like that. He doesn't need to play anymore.
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And he went OFF on the Texans just two games ago. It was just a bad matchup, I don’t see him hanging em up.
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I can't imagine him retiring after that game. That was one of the worst games of his career. He wouldn't want to go out like that.
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Did any one not get wrecked all night? Maybe Creed I cant think of an issue he had other than a snap hitting the ground. But the rest of the line played like complete fucking ass.
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Time to retire if he can’t get motivated to play in the Super Bowl.

This isn’t a Week 3 game vs the Colts.
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There's no restructure to happen. He's either back for the number or he's not. He's more than capable of making that much or more off the field. So he will have to decide if his drive is there.
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Issue might have to be forced. It's time.
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This is the truth— if you’re thinking about retirement, you’ve already retired.

Yes, 97 catches and 800+ yards is a great year for any TE. I think ThaVirus said it best; at this point his presence might be detrimental to Mahomes taking shots with other receivers who are open for larger gains.

Of course Gray or Wiley aren’t replacing that production; that’s the point. Evolve the offense to focus on #1 and #4 first, then #83 or #12 as second or third option. The era of Mahomes to Kelce is over. Adapt or die.
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I'm sure I'm not the first person to say this....but I don't really care either way.

I just hope he decides fairly soon. Because we'll either A) want to put that cap space to use or B) He'll need to be busting his ass this entire off-season to get as near to prime condition as his age will allow.

If he comes back -- great. His leadership is elite, he's still a hell of a possession weapon and he's essentially an additional OC on the field in a lot of ways.

If he doesn't want to come back -- just fine with that as well. In terms of on-field performance, I don't think he was as impactful as his salary slot in 2024.

We'll be fine however it goes, I just hope it's a decision he makes fairly quickly. It'll work better for all parties that way.
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There's another play where Smith got straight folded backwards by a dude he outweighs by probably 70 lbs.

I mean the entire offense just had NOTHING. It was so damn strange. They just looked to be going through the motions out there.

Some of the most ferocious competitors the team has were just stuck in neutral. Someone like Thuney isn't a guy that plays with a lot of fire but Smith, Kelce and Mahomes are three of the most aggressive guys on that squad.

And from the very beginning they just looked...bored.

It was so strange.
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