Almost everyone from the Chiefs Kingdom has mentally prepared for a goodbye tour. You could feel it all summer – that quiet dread that 2026 was going to be Travis Kelce’s final lap in NFL gear. After the offense sputtered to an ugly 6-11 finish last season, by January, Kelce looked exhausted and beat up. While pundits contemplated whether he could be an impact player again, Kelce himself sounded torn about whether he wanted to grind through another year. But three weeks into this season, that old retirement talk looks completely premature.

Kelce has been flying around the gridiron, tearing through secondaries and rewriting the history books on a weekly basis for the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, one of the few men in the league who actually understands the physical toll of playing tight end – Rob Gronkowski – is floating an idea that Kelce could stick around for year 15 just to chase him down.

On the latest Up & Adams Show, host Kay Adams brought up the tight end touchdown record. Gronk retired with 92 regular season touchdowns, and Kelce currently sits 13 behind him. Adams asked if Kelce could realistically close that gap by January 2027. Gronk gave Kelce his flowers for fixing whatever went wrong a year ago, but pointed out that catching 13 touchdowns in a single season – at age 36 – would be wild, meaning if Kelce really wants that spot, he’ll have to suit up again.

“Whatever he did to get to this level, to stay in shape, whatever mistake he learned from the previous season – why he wasn’t on top of his game like he is now,” Gronk said. “And then to do it, that’s huge props right there. And he’s looking phenomenal. But to get to that level of touchdowns this year, that would be pretty insane. I think he would have to stick around again next year.”

Gronk even tried to brush off the milestone, reminding Adams that Antonio Gates holds the real gold standard for TEs with 116 touchdowns, with Chiefs’ legend Tony Gonzalez sitting at 111. But Adam made the case that passing Gronk’s record carries weight in the greatest-of-all-time debate – especially if Kelce wins another Super Bowl ring to match Gronk’s four. Gronk set the priorities straight: rings will always matter more than regular-season stats.

“No doubt, that is a thought,” Gronk said about Kelce chasing his stats. “But I would say what’s most important, though, that would dominate all conversations in winning it all, is getting a Super Bowl. That is actually number one. And then everything else is kind of like icing on the cake as of now.”

Now, even if Kelce doesn’t catch up to Gronk’s touchdown mark this season, he’s been stacking up plenty of that icing over the last three weeks. Kelce has already blown past Jason Witten to take second place on the all-time tight end receiver yardage list (13,233), leaving only Gonzalez ahead of him (15,127).

In Week 2 against the Indianapolis Colts, Kelce tied Gronk with his 27th career 100-yard, one-touchdown game, and broke Marshall Faulk’s post-1992 record for career yards after the catch by hitting 6,288 yards. Even Trav’s brother – former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce – brown down the film on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown, laughing at how Travis is still pulling away from all the record holders with just a week away from turning 37.

What’s amazing is none of this seemed remotely possible in January. After a deflating Week 18 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, Kelce admitted he didn’t know what was next, telling reporters, “Either it hits me quick, or I’ve got to take some time.” But that weariness is gone. By the time he spoke with Good Morning America before Week 1, Kelce declared he wasn’t ready to walk away.

“Still kinda sitting here like, ‘I don’t wanna let this thing go. I wanna keep playing till the wheels fall off,’ I always say,” Kelce said. “I still have the desire to go out there and compete, and I still think I can compete at a high level. I love this game so much that I’m not ready to go into that next phase yet.”

With No. 87 playing with this much juice, the Chiefs Kingdom can stop treating every Sunday like a funeral. If Rob Gronkowski is right, Travis Kelce might just keep the wheels rolling straight into 2027, and break all records – something that head coach Andy Reid has already predicted.