Travis Kelce Explains His Career Low Stats From 2024 NFL Season

Kansas City Chiefs superstar Travis Kelce knows that he didn’t live up to his potential during the 2024 NFL season, and in a new interview, he’s taking full accountability for it.

According to Kelce, 35, the three-time Super Bowl champion pinpointed a specific reason for the decline in his performance—and it has nothing to do with his high-profile relationship with popstar Taylor Swift.

In his cover story interview for GQ, Kelce, who is entering his 13th season in the NFL, got candid about the 2024 season, which ended with the Kansas City Chiefs losing in the Super Bowl to Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Throughout the season, Kelce’s performance was a major point of conversation, considering he ended the year with just 823 receiving yards and only three touchdowns—a career low in both statistical categories.

Kelce acknowledged that he didn’t play up to his own standards last season, saying he “might have slipped” because his focus was divided.

According to him, he was “trying to set myself up” for the future, which involved him taking more acting jobs and hosting television shows. “And opportunities came up where I was excited to venture into a new world of acting and being an entertainer,” he said.

In 2024, Kelce made his acting debut in the TV series “Grotesquerie.” It premiered on FX in September of that year and starred Niecy Nash-Betts, Courtney B. Vance, and Raven Goodwin.

Kelce played Ed Laclan, a hospital orderly helping Betts’ character solve a string of crimes. However, the series delivered a sharp twist as viewers learned that Ed’s role was a false identity and that he was the one under investigation.

During a previous interview, Ryan Murphy, the show’s creator, described his initial meeting with Kelce as “unexpected” before revealing that the NFL player’s passion to try acting really moved him.

Consequently, he wrote the role of Ed specifically for Kelce. “We had a ball, and he’s just the most delightful person,” Murphy said.

“He showed up off-book. He knew all his lines, he knew all Niecy [Nash-Betts]’s lines,” said Murphy. “And he was a little nervous at first — as, I mean, I would be too.”

Additionally, Kelce took on another high-profile side gig, hosting Amazon Prime’s new competition game show, “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?” The series premiered in October 2024, smack in the middle of the NFL season, and consisted of 20 episodes.

It’s a spin-off of the 2007 game show “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” and featured many high-profile public figures, including Lala Kent, Garcelle Beauvais, Nikki Glaser, and more.

Kelce’s recent revelation about not being as dialed in during the last NFL season also comes months after sports analysts, such as Stephen A. Smith, slammed the tight end for having a less-than-stellar start to last year’s season.

“We saw more Taylor Swift than we saw Travis Kelce yesterday on a Sunday afternoon and any other time that’s applicable,” he said on an episode of ESPN’s “First Take.” “That ain’t supposed to happen yesterday.”

“We were supposed to see more Travis Kelce yesterday than we saw her. That’s not happening. You got to get it going, bro. You got 39 receiving yards in the first two games. Come on now, it’s time,” he continued. “Football season is here. The honeymoon’s over. Let’s handle our business.”