{"id":252866,"date":"2025-10-31T14:27:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=252866"},"modified":"2025-10-31T14:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:27:10","slug":"the-centurion-chiefs-tight-end-who-defined-a-dynasty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/10\/31\/the-centurion-chiefs-tight-end-who-defined-a-dynasty\/","title":{"rendered":"The Centurion Chiefs Tight End Who Defined a Dynasty"},"content":{"rendered":"

The words of Taylor Swift, \u201credwood tree, it ain\u2019t hard to see\u201d \u2014 few players have stood taller for the Chiefs Kingdom dynasty than Travis Kelce<\/a>. Now, as the star tight end approaches the sunset of his career, his greatness feels even more profound.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 36-year-old playmaker, engaged to global pop icon Taylor Swift<\/a>, delivered another vintage performance Monday night as the Kansas City Chiefs defeated Washington Commanders<\/a>\u00a028\u20137 at Arrowhead Stadium.<\/span><\/p>\n

Milestone with Latest Touchdown<\/b><\/h3>\n

Kelce caught six passes for a season-high 99 yards, including two critical receptions for 48 yards. His first, a 38-yard catch, set up Kansas City\u2019s go-ahead touchdown. The second, a leaping 10-yarder in the front of the end zone, extended the Chiefs\u2019 lead to 21\u20137 in the third quarter.<\/span><\/p>\n

That touchdown marked Kelce\u2019s 100th career touchdown reception (regular season and playoffs combined), making him just the fourth tight end in NFL history to reach the milestone. He joins legends Antonio Gates <\/a>\u00a0(118), Tony Gonzalez<\/a> (115), and Rob Gronkowski <\/a>(107).<\/span><\/p>\n

The score was also Kelce\u2019s 83rd regular-season touchdown, tying him with Priest Holmes for the most in Chiefs history. One more will make him the franchise\u2019s all-time leader. He’s firmly in the GOAT tight end<\/a> conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kelce: I Just Cherish the Moments<\/b><\/h3>\n

After the game, Kelce reflected on his journey with humility and humor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just an old, lucky dog,\u201d Kelce said. \u201cComing out here, being able to play in front of Chiefs Kingdom at Arrowhead \u2014 this place is special, and I love it here. In terms of the historical stuff, I\u2019m still focused on the next game, the next catch, and trying to get better every single day. I think I\u2019ll look back at it later and really appreciate it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Hall of Fame Career<\/b><\/h3>\n

Kelce is a future Hall of Famer, having been named a four-time first-team All-Pro, a three-time second-teamer, and a 10-time Pro Bowler.<\/span><\/p>\n

He already holds the NFL\u2019s records for postseason receptions (172), postseason 100-yard games (nine), and Super Bowl receptions (35). Entering Monday night, he also led the Chiefs in career receptions (1,035), receiving yards (12,526), and receiving touchdowns (79).<\/span><\/p>\n

Among tight ends, he holds the records for most 1,000-yard seasons (seven), most 100-catch seasons (three), most 100-yard receiving games (37), and the single-season record for receiving yards (1,416).<\/span><\/p>\n

Mahomes Gives Kelce His Flowers<\/b><\/h3>\n

Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes <\/a>\u00a0was full of praise for Kelce, calling him a model of leadership and loyalty within the Chiefs Kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the true Chiefs Chief,\u201d said Mahomes. \u201cHe\u2019s the guy that has been here through the whole thing \u2014 been here with Coach Reid the entire time. He\u2019s helped set the culture, you know?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kelce Set a Culture to Emulate<\/b><\/h3>\n

Mahomes <\/a>, 30, who was snubbed from last year\u2019s Pro Bowl for the first time since becoming the Chiefs\u2019 full-time starter in 2018, said Kelce helped define what it means to play for Kansas City.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s helped set the culture of what it means to play for Coach Andy Reid<\/a>\u00a0and to play in Kansas City. I was able to come in and have that guy to rely on,\u201d Mahomes said. \u201cHe\u2019s breaking all the records now, and he\u2019s all about the team, so I want to make sure he gets that recognition \u2014 and hopefully, we can get another football for him later in the season after he actually breaks the record for most touchdowns in Chiefs history.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Chiefs next face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Highmark Stadium.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kelce\u2019s 100th career touchdown reception making him just the fourth tight end in NFL history to reach the milestone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5620,"featured_media":249684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[7811,339],"class_list":["post-252866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chiefs","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-travis-kelce"],"modified_by":"Mike Kashuba","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5620"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252866"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253064,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252866\/revisions\/253064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}