Kansas City Chiefs’ Chris Jones isn’t ready to even think about retirement, and wants to make sure his teammate, Travis Kelce, sticks around with him.
Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones is not ready to hang up his cleats anytime soon. And he wants to make sure his teammate, tight end Travis Kelce, does the same.
“He’s got like four or five more years, and what is he talking about, right?” Jones said on Wednesday, per ESPN. “We can’t let TK go. It’s like we retire, we’ve got to retire together. Give me at least six, four years, then we’ll talk about it.”
Jones adamant about sticking with Kelce until the end
Jones’ comments come a day after Kelce said he still has a lot left to give the game he loves.
“I’m going to do it until the wheels fall off,” he said, per Fox 4 KC. “Hopefully, that doesn’t happen anytime soon. I can definitely understand that it’s toward the end of the road than the beginning of it. I just got to make sure I’m set up for after football as well.
Jones adamant about sticking with Kelce until the end
“I really can’t put a time frame on it.”
Kelce added, “I love coming to work every single day” and still feels “that I’m a little kid when I come in this building.”
Jones adamant about sticking with Kelce until the end
Kelce hasn’t shown a single sign of slowing down, posting 984 yards with five touchdowns on 93 catches during the regular season; that’s considered a down year by his standards. But he was money in the postseason, making 32 catches for 355 yards with three touchdowns in the Chiefs’ four playoff games, including nine receptions in the overtime Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
Once Jones rejoined the Chiefs at the beginning of the season – he had a contract dispute with Kansas City, but they figured things out – he totaled 10.5 sacks, marking back-to-back seasons of double digits in that category. He had 30 combined tackles as well.
These two players have been essential pieces for head coach Andy Reid to deploy on game days, and he’s hoping to continue doing so as long as they’re on the roster.
“They’re both great players,” Reid said. “They’re both leaders on this team. They’re both guys that we count on to make big plays. And they’ve both done that for us.”
With Kelce and Jones both under contract for at least the next two seasons, the Chiefs should be in good shape for the foreseeable future. But Jones is already thinking about the day when they might both decide to retire.
“I don’t want to think about that,” Jones said. “But when that day comes, we’ll do it together.”
Here are some additional quotes from Jones and Kelce on their retirement plans:
**Jones:** “I’m not ready to retire. I still have a lot of football left in me. I’m just taking it one day at a time and trying to get better every day.”
**Kelce:** “I’m not going to retire anytime soon. I still love the game and I’m still playing at a high level. I’m just going to keep playing until I can’t play anymore.”
It’s clear that both Jones and Kelce are still passionate about the game of football. They’re both playing at a high level and they’re both key pieces for the Chiefs. So, it’s no surprise that they’re not ready to retire anytime soon.
