Travis Kelce is called “Zeus” by his fans for obvious reasons. Now approaching the twilight of his career, Kelce has broken plenty of records with the Kansas City Chiefs. Now all set to play his 14th NFL season, Kelce is on track to set one more record. 

“Per the NFL: With at least 45 receiving yards against Denver, #Chiefs TE Travis Kelce can surpass Jason Witten (13,046 receiving yards) for the 2nd most receiving yards by a tight end in NFL history, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez (15,127),” posted FOX4 Kansas City reporter Rob Collins on X. 

Retirement talks have surrounded the star tight end, who many consider a Hall of Fame lock, ever since the 2025 season ended. Kelce is nearing 40, and rarely do pass-catchers play at a high clip at this age. However, he’s still got enough gas in the tank to power himself through.

Last season, Kelce reached 13,000 career receiving yards, becoming the fastest tight end to reach the milestone in NFL history. With a 5-yard grab from Chris Oladokun before halftime and another 5-yard reception from Shane Buechele after the break, Kelce became just the 23rd player in NFL history to surpass that mark.

Besides this, the Kansas City tight end has set an NFL record for most career playoff games with 100 receiving yards or more on an 18-yard catch.

When it comes to beating Witten, Kelce has already done so in another stat. Last season, he passed the former Dallas Cowboys tight end for the second-most receiving yards in primetime games in NFL history.

“If we go by receptions, he’s the third all time,” KFH Radio’s Jacob Albracht said, bringing up Kelce’s receptions record. “He’s a little less than 200 behind Witten, and he is a little less than 300 behind Gonzalez. So Witten basically played 17 years, from 2003 to 2020. Gonzalez played 16, from 97 to 2013. Kelce has played 12. You can believe that 12. And it got me thinking, well, wait a minute. What if Kelce’s not done?”

In these 12 seasons, Kelce has tallied 814 receptions, setting an NFL record for catches by a tight end through his first 10 seasons. He also leads all tight ends in career yards after the catch, with 6,158.

Jason Witten is not the only one in Kelce’s sights. It is a tall task, but Kelce is only 168 yards away from breaking Jerry Rice’s all-time playoff receiving yards record of 2,245 yards. Kelce is also knocking on the door of the NFL’s all-time top 20, ranking 23rd with 13,002 receiving yards. He trails No. 20 Steve Largent by just 88 yards.

Last season was poor for everyone in the Kansas City Chiefs offense, particularly in the passing attack. However, Kelce, at 36, was somewhat of a bright spot, leading pass catchers with 851 yards, 76 receptions, five touchdowns, 108 targets, and 45 first downs.

The preseason offered a glimpse of vintage Kelce, as the tight end caught a pass from rookie QB Garrett Nussmeier on Kansas City’s opening drive against the defending champion Seattle Seahawks. However, a question remains about whether that version of Kelce will show up consistently in the regular season. 

But the star tight end is confident about what he brings to the table. 

“I still think I can go out and play at a high level, and I want to go out there and prove to myself that I can play at a better level than I did last year,” Kelce said. “I think that’s probably the biggest thing for me is making sure that I’m accountable for the guys in this room every single play that I’m out there.

This season, Travis Kelce should be expected to be the bigger player among pass catchers, considering the wide receiver corps is still very inexperienced and young. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes will want to depend on him, as he has for pretty much his entire career.