Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce ‘looks old’ this year, but that’s not due to his romance with Taylor Swift, per ex-NFL scout John Middlekauff.
‘He’s kind of looked old this year,’ Middlekauff said on Colin Cowherd’s podcast. ‘And part of it, he had a knee injury right before the season started, he’s had ankle injuries. He just kind of looks old.’
‘And this is the NFL, where you don’t always see it coming,’ Middlekauff continued. ‘He’s one of the greatest players of all time, he’s one of my favorite players to watch. But he’s looked his age a little bit.’
‘To me, Travis flying to Taylor and being in love, it has nothing to do with that,’ Middlekauff continued. ‘He’s a 34-year-old guy with a lot of miles on his body who’s starting to get banged up.’
‘His game is very predicated on athleticism, movement, speed, explosiveness. And he just feels like a step slow this year,’ Middlekauff concluded.
Middlekauff also floated that if Kelce is ‘no longer an A+ player, and let’s say he’s a B, B- player’ he doesn’t know if Kansas City can make a deep playoff run this season.
Kelce openly stated on last week’s episode of his ‘New Heights’ podcast with brother and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce that he thinks about retiring due to the impact of the game on his body.
‘That’s the only thing I’ve never really been open about, the discomfort. The pain, Kelce said. ‘The lingering injuries – the 10 surgeries I’ve had that I still feel every single surgery to this day.’
‘The surgeries take a toll, man. They take a toll. I was unfortunate I got the knee surgery but fortunate I haven’t had any problems with that situation since then,’ Kelce continued.
With six games to go in the regular season, Kelce is projected to end the year with around 1,000 receiving yards. Kelce has gained more than 1,000 receiving yards every season since 2015.
Kelce has 732 receiving yards in 10 games this season, missing Kansas City’s season-opening loss to Detroit with an injury.
Since a Sept. 24 appearance from Swift at the Chiefs game against the Bears, where she and Kelce were first seen together in public, Kelce’s personal life has been a huge topic of public discussion, as most things associated with Swift are.
Kelce had 912 receiving yards with six games to go in the regular season last year. Kelce and the Chiefs are back in action on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.
