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Travis Kelce is full of gratitude, getting candid about his new record-breaking deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 34-year-old athlete, who is now the highest-paid tight end in the NFL, addresses the news on Wednesday’s episode of his New Heights podcast presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment.
“This is just following in your footsteps again,” he tells his older brother, 36-year-old Philadelphia Eagles alum Jason Kelce. “You were the highest-paid center.”
Jason humbly replies, “That’s what they say, I don’t know if it’s true or not.”
On Monday, Travis signed a two-year contract extension with the Chiefs. The $34.25 million deal — which includes $17 million fully guaranteed this year — makes Kelce the highest-paid tight end in the league.
Travis breaks it down on the podcast, confirming that he does indeed hold the highest average annual value — or overall money divided by years, also referred to as “AAV” — of any tight end.
“The highest [tight end] AAV, $17.125 [million], yeah,” he explains. “I am so frickin’ thankful.”
The three-time Super Bowl champion offers shout-outs to the Chiefs’ general manager Brett Veach, team president Mark Donovan, coach Andy Reid and CEO Clark Hunt.
Saying he has loved “every single second” of his last 12 years in Kansas City, Travis adds, “I’m gonna love the next two years playing here in Kansas City and we’ll see what happens after that.”
Beyond his individual success, Travis also expresses excitement over his ability to “move the needle for the tight end room.”
“It’s everyone else’s job to go out there and keep making that tight end AAV number go up and up with every single contract that’s better than mine in the future,” he says.
Of course, he’s also ready to get back to work for Chiefs Kingdom.
“I’m not a guy that sits out, I’m not a guy that holds out,” he says. “I’m a guy that loves coming into the building and the Chiefs know that, so for them to, first of all, want to be able to get this done for me knowing how much blood, sweat and tears I put into this thing for them, I’m extremely grateful and extremely thankful for everybody involved. I love Kansas City for it.”
With his signature flair, he adds, “All right, nah! Chiefs Kingdom, baby, here we go!”
It’s a major turn of events following Travis’ comments in a WSJ Magazine profile last season, when he was asked about his then-$14 million salary. At the time, the outlet called him “grossly underpaid” noting that his payment was “half of what the league’s star receivers make.”
In the interview, Travis told WSJ that there was nothing to be done about it.
“Unfortunately, in this business, things gotta get ugly, they gotta get unpleasant [if you want more money],” he’s quoted as saying. “And I’m a pleasant son of a buck.”
His co-manager, Aaron Eanes, even noted, “The NFL is just his side hustle.”
Beyond his skills on the field, Travis also made headlines last season amid his romance with Taylor Swift. The pop star first attended one of his games in September, and quickly became a fixture among Chiefs fans. When she wasn’t busy on her Eras tour, Taylor was often by Travis’ side all the way up to Super Bowl LVIII.
Safe to say it’s been a banner year for both Travis and his A-list girlfriend. Following the Chiefs’ victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII, the couple has sweetly celebrated on tropical vacations, a PDA-packed Coachella weekend, and a recent trip to Las Vegas.
Travis was also recently announced as the host of Prime Video’s upcoming game show, Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? The new show, a twist on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, will feature an adult contestant relying on a classroom of celebrities, who will help them answer 11 questions. For the $100,000 6th grade-level final question, the contestant can select one celebrity to discuss the answer with before submitting it.
As for his budding Hollywood career, the athlete recently produced the movie My Dead Friend Zoe – starring Sonequa Martin-Green, Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman — and took a turn hosting Saturday Night Live in 2023.
“That’s the point of the offseason,” Travis explained during a January press conference. “Being able to get out there and really find what you love to do and I’ve been fortunate to do a few things outside of the sports world that I’ve been enjoying doing, like getting on camera.”
He continued, “The SNL stuff kinda opened up a new happiness and maybe a new career path for me, but it’s funny for me to even say that at this point in my career because it’s so much further down the road than it is right now.”
Travis is currently prepping to host his second annual Kelce Jam, presented by Jim Beam. The festival goes down May 18 at Azura Amphitheater in Kansas City. Some of this year’s featured artists include Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz and Diplo.
“I can’t wait to get back in front of KC and celebrate this Super Bowl one last time,” he told ET last month. “… I’m just so grateful and appreciative of Kanas City showing up and showing out for me, not only on the field, but in the community doing foundational stuff. We gotta party it up. We gotta celebrate. We gotta have a good time.”
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