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Rob Gronkowski Makes Bold Statement on Travis Kelce’s Future With Chiefs

Kristen Wong

Screengrab on Twitter/ @UpAndAdamsShow
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Rob Gronkowski doesn’t think Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is down bad, contrary to one of Taylor Swift’s title soundtracks. 

The former New England Patriots great recently shared his honest thoughts on Kelce’s NFL career thus far and gave a bold prediction on the Chiefs star’s retirement timeline.

Gronkowski noted how Kelce and Patrick Mahomes’s relationship was different from his and Tom Brady’s, when Brady was the older quarterback and Gronk was the “young buck.” In the Chiefs’ case, the roles are flip-flopped, with Kelce taking the place of the mentor.

Despite his inevitable aging, Kelce, who turned 35 this year, could still be productive for a couple more seasons in Gronk’s opinion.

"I believe he can go at least another two years,” Gronkowski said on the Up & Adams Show. “The guy has 85-plus catches this year. We're talking about his stats being down—are you kidding me?... How are your stats down if you have 80-plus catches at 35 years old? I think I’ve only had 80-plus catches one time in my career and I was 22 years old.

“I mean, he’s the security blanket, he gets first downs whenever they need to. You actually watch him running routes, he’s very crisp and very smooth with them as well… It’s just one of those years the ball’s just not going to be thrown to him in the end zone every single time.”

Kelce is 11 catches shy of the 100-reception mark but only has two receiving touchdowns this season, his lowest scoring total since his rookie campaign in 2013.

To Gronk and many others, Kelce’s age is ultimately just a number. Gronkowski added that he thought Kelce could record 70-plus catches over the next few seasons if he wanted to extend his career, music to the ears of Chiefs fans who likely want to see the Kansas City tight end play until the wheels fall off.  

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.

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