Chiefs' Travis Kelce addresses retirement rumors, why he's 'thankful'

It was suggested in August that Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce spent portions of the summer practicing like a man with several seasons left in the tank even though the three-time Super Bowl champion has "been beat up" throughout his career, turns 35 years old in October and already has a plethora of business opportunities outside of football.

During a Tuesday appearance on "The Rich Eisen Show," Kelce insisted that retiring "didn’t cross my mind one bit" following Kansas City's Super Bowl LVIII win over the San Francisco 49ers this past February. 

"I’m still enjoying coming to work," Kelce explained, as shared by Christian Arnold of the New York Post. "I’m not dreading practice. I’m just having so much fun and just so appreciative and so fortunate that I’ve been able to come into year 12 and still have this energy and this love and the ability to get to work." 

One couldn't have blamed Kelce for hanging his cleats up amid his much-publicized relationship with entertainment superstar Taylor Swift. During the offseason, the future Hall of Famer accepted a high-profile acting job and was named the host of Amazon’s "Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?" show before he and brother Jason Kelce inked a deal with Amazon's Wondery for their "New Heights" podcast that reportedly is worth more than $100M. 

Nevertheless, Travis Kelce left no doubt while speaking with reporters on Tuesday that he's focused on the Chiefs possibly becoming the first team to ever win three consecutive Super Bowls. 

"I just love coming in here [and] I just love football and how it takes me away from life,'' Kelce said, per Adam Teicher of ESPN. "It gives me something I can feel genuinely happy about. ...I'm forever fortunate to be able to play as many games as I've played already in this league and that's why I really enjoy going out there every single day, even if it's just a practice to really work on my craft. I know not everybody gets that same fortune in their career and I'm ready to rock Week 1 and I'm thankful for it.''

As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Chiefs as the betting favorites at +500 odds to win Super Bowl LIX. That same outlet had Kansas City as a three-point favorite for the regular-season opener versus the Baltimore Ravens held at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night.