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Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce had a message for any and all critics who think he’s lost a step.

Travis Kelce went back to being the Kansas City Chiefs’ number one offensive weapon last weekend against the Houston Texans — just in time for another trip to the AFC Championship game.

Kelce spoke to reporters on January 24, ahead of the upcoming matchup with the Buffalo Bills, and he was asked if critics calling him “washed” or too old motivates him at all. The future Hall of Famer’s answer was blunt, but hilarious.

“No,” Kelce replied, adding: “I laugh at it.”

Kelce’s devilish grin during his response drew a laugh from the media. Then, after a moment, he noted that “as long as I’m going out there and we’re winning, that’s all that matters.”

That brief Q&A is what makes Kelce so special as a player. He might go down in the history books as the greatest NFL tight end of all-time, and yet, all he ever cares about is team success and winning the Super Bowl.

Travis Kelce’s Unselfishness Has Inspired Chiefs Teammates

Kelce’s unselfishness has been a theme of the past couple seasons. So much so, that The Athletic’s Nate Taylor wrote an entire feature about it, which he published on January 24.

“When summarizing Kelce’s season, several members of the Chiefs — [offensive coordinator Matt] Nagy, [pass game coordinator Joe] Bleymaier and [quarterback Patrick] Mahomes — unpromptedly connected his sacrifices this season to what he did a little more than a year ago,” Taylor relayed.

“Before the 2023 regular-season finale, many of Kelce’s teammates wanted him to play a few snaps to gain the 16 yards he needed to reach 1,000 receiving yards for the eighth consecutive season, which would’ve extended the league’s longest such streak for a tight end,” he explained. “Because the Chiefs’ game against the Los Angeles Chargers was meaningless, Kelce, for the first time in his career, told [head coach Andy] Reid he didn’t want to be in uniform.”

According to Mahomes, “It meant a lot to the team that he put the team above himself” in that moment.

“Guys took that and ran with it,” the Chiefs QB went on. “It inspired the team. He has the heart of a champion. When your leaders are doing that, I think everybody knows they’ve got to put it all on the line.”

As Kelce has transformed into a veteran throughout his career, more and more, he’s preached the importance of winning. Now, at age 35, it’s seemingly all that matters.

“The beautiful part about Travis is he does not care [about statistics],” Nagy told Taylor. “He wants to continue to just keep winning. He cares about these trophies. He’s extremely unselfish.”

Needless to say, Kelce’s mindset has rubbed off on the rest of this franchise over the years. It’s created a culture, and when Kelce does eventually decide to call it quits, his impact will be sorely missed.

Michael Obermuller covers the NFL and NHL for Heavy.com, where he began writing in 2021. His areas of focus include the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins, as well as the New York Rangers and New York Islanders. An NYC area native and Quinnipiac graduate, his previous bylines include FanDuel’s The Duel, King Fantasy Sports and Pro Football Mania. More about Michael Obermuller

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