Football again: Kelce’s chance to make NFL history

Travis Kelce still loves to talk about American football – but even immediately before the start of the new NFL season, that is no longer a given. The 34-year-old tight end from the Kansas City Chiefs has never been as busy in his life as he has been in the past few months.

Since his relationship with pop superstar Taylor Swift became public last year, Kelce’s popularity has exploded far beyond NFL fan circles. And the three-time Super Bowl champion is enjoying the opportunities that have come with it: his own new podcast, appearances on TV shows and even sharing the stage with Swift in a concert in London – there’s no boredom.

Super Bowl – Kansas City Chiefs – San Francisco 49ers
Photo: John Locher/AP/dpa

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Nevertheless, Kelce is focused, fit and prepared for the exciting duel with the Baltimore Ravens on Friday night in Germany (2:00 a.m. CEST/RTL). There are no difficulties in concentrating on his job as quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ favorite teammate. “I just love coming here.” I love football and how it distracts me from life. “It gives me something that I’m honestly really happy about,” he said before the game against the Ravens. “I have so much fun working on my skills. It’s so great. It’s going to be really hard to have to decide to stop at some point.”

Last season there was more criticism of Kelce

Even during the course of last season, there were increasing voices critical of Kelce’s performance and that he was suffering from age-related wear and tear. He missed the start of the season against the Detroit Lions with Amon-Ra St. Brown with a knee injury, and his subsequent haul of five touchdowns and 984 yards of passes caught did not come close to the figures of previous years. But then the playoffs came and Kelce collected three touchdowns and 355 yards of passes in just four games – and won the Super Bowl with the Chiefs for the third time in his career.

Title number four is now the big goal this season – it would be a historic one. No team in the Super Bowl era has ever managed to win the trophy three years in a row. Eight teams have won the Super Bowl twice in a row, most recently the Chiefs in the last two years. But no double champion has ever managed to make it into the confetti rain for the third time – even making it to the Super Bowl again was too big a hurdle.

Clear favorite: The Kansas City Chiefs

For the bookmakers, the Chiefs are still the big favorite before the start of the season, followed by the San Francisco 49ers, the Detroit Lions and the Baltimore Ravens – against whom the Chiefs can secure their Super Bowl ticket of the past season with a win in the playoffs.

Kelce can make history even before the playoffs start again in January. He is three touchdowns behind Tony Gonzalez and number one in the Chiefs’ position-based rankings. With seven touchdowns, he overtakes Priest Holmes and has had more than any other professional in the history of the Kansas City Chiefs.

His 11,328 yards after passing are already a record. But the most important thing for Kelce is undoubtedly the prospect of a fourth Super Bowl victory in six years. That would also certainly help to ensure that his life doesn’t get boring any time soon – and he can still talk a lot about football.