At least six months before the regular season, the NFL players head to their respective training facilities. The purpose? Getting to know the new staff, the incoming players, and the latest strategies. However, if there’s one unbeatable tactic to improve the chemistry between two players, it is any off-field activity.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, for instance, plays video games with his teammates after a long day of practice. For the ultimate duo of QB Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, though, the secret might as well be beer pong, as revealed by the Kansas City Chiefs’ possibly retiring star himself.

“Sometimes he surprises the s— out of me,” Kelce told guest Randy Moss on the New Heights podcast. “I will turn my head around or maybe even run a completely different route than what was called, and Pat is right on cue. Right on the money. Every single time, he knows. That’s what happens when you golf together and play drinking games together.

“You have beer with a guy, you start to get in his head.”

When Moss further pressed on a serious note about how the telepathic chemistry even came to be, Kelce explained with an example:

“I think there is just a natural understanding of backyard football. I remember I went to Pat one time and was like, ‘Alright man, if they go this coverage, I’mma run it like this, run it like that’. He was just like ‘Nah, man, just get open. I don’t care how you run this route. You just get open, and that ball is gonna be there on time.'”

That isn’t just hearsay. Throughout their nine-year partnership, they have given us many signature moments of their own based on just one fact: Any time Kelce thinks his quarterback is in trouble, he will get open and somehow, the ball will be in his hands. The two have made it work for a long time now.

Case in point, their 2024 preseason game against the Detroit Lions, Travis ran the wrong route, compelling the QB to throw a behind-the-back pass, which the latter jokingly called a spite pass. In a divisional clash with the Buffalo Bills in 2021, the pair linked up for a game-winning overtime touchdown.

A shining example of their chemistry would be the improvised touchdown the tight end scored against the Houston Texans in the 2020 playoff games (one out of his three touchdowns). After noticing a gap, the 36-year-old altered his original route. Noticing his movement, Mahomes improvised and threw the ball for a touchdown.

Since the signal-caller was picked by the Chiefs in 2017, Kelce has remained his reliable passing option. The No. 87 has 82 receiving touchdowns in his NFL career, of which 50 came playing alongside Mahomes, showing the quarterback’s influence on his career. And that’s one of the reasons why Kelce might consider one more return.

When Mahomes tore his ACL and LCL in December, the TE didn’t know that the last catch of the day could very well be the duo’s final catch. It also wasn’t a telepathic catch that would at least suffice as a good moment. Moreover, with OC Eric Bieniemy returning and the Chiefs looking for a rebound year, Kelce very well might suit up for one more ride.

However, if the tight end retires after playing 13 seasons, there are other things about being the Chiefs that he would miss: the fans.

Travis Kelce reveals what he would miss the most after retirement

Travis Kelce is going to be a free agent this month. Should he commit to playing another season, he might sign a one-year deal with the Chiefs. However, if he retires, his final game would be the Week 18 clash with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025.

In the same episode of the New Heights Podcast, he was asked about his possible football retirement and what he would miss after calling it a day.

“I think it’s just those moments in the big games,” Travis stated. “The feeling of having to rise to the occasion, be there for 70,000 that are counting on you, outside the guys you go to war with. Those moments of rising to the occasion in the heat of the battle in the playoffs and all the big games out there. That’s the feeling I know I’ll never get again.”

Despite not having his best season in 2025, Travis Kelce still led the tight end group and, indeed, rose to the occasion any time his team needed him to. And for 13 years, that’s exactly what he has done for the Chiefdom, playing in consecutive playoffs since 2014, a streak that broke last season.

He became a starter in 2014, quickly turning into an offensive force. He has started 185 of the 192 games in his career, amassing an impressive 13,002 receiving yards. He is already at the top of most lists in the Chiefs franchise, but if he wishes to return, he could do it for the team. For now, the decision remains pending.