There won’t be a new episode of New Heights this week, as Jason and Travis Kelce are taking a break.
While the brothers recorded an episode following Super Bowl LIX, they announced a short hiatus and promised that offseason episodes would be forthcoming. The official New Heights account on X (formerly Twitter) teased the return of “amazing guests,” sharing a clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger praising the brothers.
While the Kelces have hit pause before, the lack of a set return date certainly raises some eyebrows — ours included — particularly given the retirement rumors swirling around Travis after the Chiefs’ 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles just a few weeks ago.
Those in sports media like Dan Orlovsky, Nick Wright and Ian Rapoport all speculated on the “real possibility” of Travis retiring if the Chiefs secured a three-peat. And after falling short, Travis’ future seems more up in the air than it was before. But, as Ryan Clark recently pointed out, at this stage in his career, Travis may have to come to terms with being a “diminished player.”
While the Chiefs have reportedly urged Travis to make a decision on his NFL future sooner rather than later, he seems to be enjoying some downtime on a tropical vacation with his girlfriend, Taylor Swift. That could explain the podcast hiatus — and maybe Travis’ reluctance to address the looming question about his future.
Regardless, it’s an uncomfortable conversation that will have to happen sooner or later.
As for Travis’ post-playing career plans, his ambitions clearly extend beyond football. While several networks will undoubtedly be suitors eager to secure his services when he eventually retires, Awful Announcing’s Ben Axelrod raised the intriguing question of whether Travis might be “too famous” to join sports media.
And when the time comes for Travis to step away from the game, he’ll almost certainly address it on arguably the most popular sports podcast in the game.