{"id":368765,"date":"2025-12-25T21:56:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T21:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/368765\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T21:56:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T21:56:29","slug":"travis-kelces-possible-final-home-game-provides-a-bittersweet-christmas-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/368765\/","title":{"rendered":"Travis Kelce\u2019s possible final home game provides a bittersweet Christmas showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce waves to fans as he walks off the field after a game against the Tennessee Titans this past Sunday.John Amis\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Travis Kelce has played 96 regular-season home games for Kansas City.<\/p>\n

The next one might be the last.<\/p>\n

The 36-year-old Kelce, who was chosen for the Pro Bowl for the 11th time on Tuesday, will be inside Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night for a Christmas showdown with the Denver Broncos.<\/p>\n

And with his team eliminated from playoff contention for the first time in a decade, and a trip to Las Vegas for its finale, it could be the last time that Kelce walks off his beloved field.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Travis has done to this organization, to his teammates, his coaches, this city \u2013 it\u2019s special,\u201d Kansas City offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. \u201cI hope like hell that\u2019s not true. I just have so much respect for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelce has not yet announced whether he will retire after a superlative 13-year career in which he won three Super Bowl rings and was an all-pro on four occasions. But he has said that his decision will be made quickly after the season ends, giving the team ample time to not only prepare for free agency and the draft but its future without him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather just keep the focus on this team right now,\u201d Kelce said last week, \u201cand all the conversations I have with the team and everything moving forward will be with them. And I think it\u2019s a unique time in my life, and unfortunately I know when the season ends this year. Typically we go into it and we don\u2019t know when it will end.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s had a heck of a final season, if that turns out to be the case.<\/p>\n

After doubling down on fitness after K.C. was waylaid by the Eagles in the Super Bowl last February, Kelce has proceeded to play in every game during a difficult season for the team. He has 68 catches for 803 yards, allowing him to join Jerry Rice as the only players in NFL history to eclipse the 800-yards receiving mark in 12 consecutive seasons.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Kelce heads off the field following his team’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday in Kansas City, Mo.Ed Zurga\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Kelce also has five touchdown receptions, matching the most he\u2019s had in the past three seasons.<\/p>\n

And while Kelce could have shut it down after the team was eliminated from postseason contention for the first time since his first full season in the NFL, he has continued to take the field every day. He had a single catch for six yards in last week\u2019s 26-9 loss to the Titans, but it pushed his streak \u2013 the longest active one in the league \u2013 to 189 games with at least one reception.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t help that backup quarterback Gardner Minshew joined Kelce\u2019s good friend, Patrick Mahomes, by tearing ligaments in his knee one week after the two-time MVP. Chris Oladokun finished the game at QB and will start on Thursday night against Denver.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will say this: What [Kelce] is going through even these last couple games \u2013 we\u2019re out of the playoffs, we\u2019re out, and he\u2019s out there every day, practising, leading, helping people out,\u201d Nagy said. \u201cThat should show a lot of these younger guys why he\u2019s playing this game, and why he is so special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notes: Cornerbacks Trent McDuffie (knee), Jaylen Watson (groin) and receivers Nikko Remigio (knee), Rashee Rice (concussion) and Tyquan Thornton (concussion) did not practice Tuesday. … Kansas City has signed quarterback Shane Buechele as Oladokun\u2019s backup for the rest of the season. TE Noah Gray would serve as the emergency quarterback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce waves to fans as he walks off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,82,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-368765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}