Travis Kelce effused about his passion for football so strongly on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown that the censors were forced to get involved.
“I still think I can compete at a high level,” he told Chris Berman during the Monday, September 14, interview ahead of the team’s season opener against the Denver Broncos.. “Like I said, I love this game so f***ing much. Oh, excuse me. I love this game so much that I’m not ready to go into that next phase yet.”
Kelce, 36, announced his decision to return for another season with the Kansas City Chiefs in March, widely believed to be his last.
“A lot of it is that [quarterback Patrick Mahomes] is still here going strong,” he told Berman, 71, of his choice to come back. “Coach Andy Reid is still here. Obviously, Chris Jones. There’s so many guys in this building I call family. I love this game so much and I love this organization so much. It means more than just coming in and doing my work.”
Kelce returns for his 14th NFL season months after marrying wife Taylor Swift at Madison Square Garden in July, which he called “the best night of my life.”
“Marrying Taylor was more than I could have ever dreamed it to be because of all the people that showed up and the amount of love that was in the air,” he said. “Just to hear stories from everybody that was in attendance, it’s been unbelievable.”
Mahomes, 30, joined Kelce for the interview, where he recalled testing out his surgically-repaired left left at Kelce and Swift’s wedding.
“It was a lot of fun. Did a little dancing,” Mahomes said. “I stayed away from Coach Reid. I saw him early and then the music started and I found a corner, a back corner. That was part of my rehab process, to see my dance moves on the floor.”
Mahomes, 30, suffered season-ending torn ACL and LCL ligaments in his left knee against the Los Angeles Chargers in December 2025. After a rigorous recovery process, he is prepared to take the field as the Chiefs starting quarterback when they host the Broncos Monday night.
Kelce marveled of Mahomes’ recovery, “This guy flipped a switch on being determined to get to this point and be as ready as he possibly could. He just set the tone right away on what we needed to do and I think everybody in the building kind of followed suit after that.”
