NEW ORLEANS — If this was the final game of Travis Kelce’s career, it was an ugly one. 

A night that started with a telling moment — his famous girlfriend, Taylor Swift, getting booed by Eagles fans when she was shown on the scoreboard — only got worse for the power couple. 

With retirement speculation swirling, Kelce didn’t catch a pass in the first half for the first time in his 25-game playoff career, while buddy Patrick Mahomes imploded with two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.

The Chiefs fell behind by 24 points in an eventual 40-22 loss in Super Bowl 2025.

“We haven’t played that bad all year,” Kelce said in the losing locker room. 

Kelce, 35, is coming off full-time career lows of 823 receiving yards and three touchdowns during the regular season.

After a one-game revival in the AFC divisional playoffs, Kelce was held in check in the last two games. 

Kelce’s first catch didn’t come until there was 3:24 remaining in the third quarter, and the 8-yarder on third-and-13 just momentarily delayed a turnover on downs. He finished with four catches for 39 yards. 

Mahomes couldn’t get him the ball, but now could shift to recruiting Kelce away from retirement. 

“I’ll let Travis make that decision on his own,” Mahomes said. “He’s given so much to this team and to the NFL. He knows he still has a lot of football left in him. You can see it — he always makes plays in big moments — but if he wants to put in that grind. 

“It’s a grind to play 20 games and get to the Super Bowl. He’s done enough to be a gold-jacket guy and first-ballot Hall of Famer. I know he still has love of the game. He’ll get to spend some time with his family. He knows he can come back here with open arms.” 

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While Kelce has indicated that his love for football hasn’t waned, there is the pull of another lifestyle with Swift and other opportunities as he sees his brother, former Eagles star Jason Kelce, thriving in a media role during his first year of retirement.

He hasn’t completely shut down retirement talk. 

“Where will I be in three years? Oh man, I don’t know. Hopefully still playing football,” Kelce said earlier this week. “I love doing this … but we’ll see what happens.” 

Kelce did not go to the postgame media room, and it does not appear that he was asked about his future by local media. 

It would have been a Cinderella story for Kelce to go out on top as a core member of the NFL’s first three-peat winner in the Super Bowl era. 

Instead, the Chiefs’ bid to win back-to-back-to-back championships was denied and the much-less-famous Brandon Graham — an all-time great Eagle — got the fairytale ending. 

Kelce reportedly was “moved to tears” during his pre-Super Bowl speech to teammates Saturday night. Was that because he knows the end is near or because he just normally wears his emotions on his sleeve? 

That remains to be seen. 

“Couldn’t find that spark, couldn’t find that momentum,” Kelce said. “This team is going to fight until the end for forever.”