{"id":50067,"date":"2025-05-21T23:37:45","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T23:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067"},"modified":"2025-05-21T23:37:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T23:37:45","slug":"chiefs-star-travis-kelce-gets-honor-reserved-for-those-over-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs Star Travis Kelce Gets Honor Reserved for Those Over 30"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1526288778-1_876ba0.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1526288778-1_876ba0.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1526288778-1_876ba0.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1526288778-1_876ba0.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs smiling.\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"1290\" data-dom-ready-time=\"2203\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce made the cut on a special tally, but it&#8217;s a bit of a backhanded compliment.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The NFL is packed with talented players of all ages, but it\u2019s often considered a young man\u2019s sport. Playing into the 40s is rare, and only a handful of players have been able to do it successfully, one of the most notable being\u00a0Tom Brady,\u00a0who retired from the NFL at 45 years old. So, when a player is even over 30 and still playing in the NFL, they\u2019re considered a true veteran.\u00a0Travis Kelce\u00a0of the\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0falls under that category, and now, he\u2019s being recognized for what he brings to the Chiefs\u2019 roster at his age.<\/p>\n<p>Dalton Wasserman of PFF has a May 21 feature out\u00a0naming the best NFL players over the age of 30. \u201cThe NFL continues to see superstar talent enter the league at younger and younger ages,\u201d he notes in the feature. \u201cBut there\u2019s still plenty of room for the grizzled veterans to make a weekly impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Best NFL Players Over 30, Including Travis Kelce<\/h2>\n<p>Wasserman\u2019s pick for the No. 1 player over 30 in the NFL in 2025 is running back\u00a0Derrick Henry\u00a0of the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens. He\u2019s 31, so barely made the age cut.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHenry\u2019s age-30 season was nothing short of outstanding,\u201d Wasserman notes, adding that it includes the postseason, where \u201che led the NFL with a 93.5 rushing grade and forced 89 missed tackles \u2014 both league-highs. He continued to wear down defenses with 3.6 yards after contact per attempt. Until there\u2019s clear evidence of decline, Henry and Lamar Jackson will remain the NFL\u2019s most dangerous backfield duo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, let\u2019s get to Kelce. Wasserman names him as the\u00a0No. 27 best player over 30\u00a0in the NFL. While that may seem low on the tally, remember that Kelce is 35 years old, so he\u2019s older than many of the names that appear on this tally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKelce took a step back by his standards in 2024, finishing with a career-low\u00a072.2 receiving grade,\u201d Wasserman stated about Kelce. \u201cStill, he committed to at least one more season and remains productive,\u00a0tallying 110 receptions and nearly 1,000 yards, including the postseason. Even in decline, he remains a key piece of Kansas City\u2019s offense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just Kelce. Wasserman actually named the Chiefs\u2019\u00a0Chris Jones\u00a0as the No. 4 best player over 30 in the NFL, which is a great spot. In the piece, he gives Jones props for how he anchored the team\u2019s pass rush in 2024 and \u201calso led all interior defenders with an impressive 18.8% pass rush win rate.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The Best NFL Players Who Retired in Their 40s<\/h2>\n<p>Forget about the 30s. What about NFL players who rocked it in their 40s? The NFL\u2019s website names their\u00a0favorite NFL player over 40 of all time\u00a0as the legendary\u00a0George Blanda, who retired in 1976 at the age of 48.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlong the course of his storied 26-year career as a quarterback and kicker, George Blanda amassed a myriad of records, some better than others,\u201d the NFL stated. \u201cBrett Favre was able to surpass Blanda\u2019s record for the most interceptions all-time. If Blanda were alive today he\u2019d likely be rooting for Mark Sanchez to overtake his other unsightly record \u2013 42 interceptions \u2026 in a single season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce made the cut on a special tally, but it&#8217;s a bit of a backhanded compliment. The NFL is packed&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chiefs Star Travis Kelce Gets Honor Reserved for Those Over 30 - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chiefs Star Travis Kelce Gets Honor Reserved for Those Over 30 - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce made the cut on a special tally, but it&#8217;s a bit of a backhanded compliment. The NFL is packed...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-21T23:37:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1526288778-1_876ba0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"618\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067\",\"name\":\"Chiefs Star Travis Kelce Gets Honor Reserved for Those Over 30 - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1526288778-1_876ba0.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-21T23:37:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-21T23:37:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1526288778-1_876ba0.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1526288778-1_876ba0.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":618},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chiefs Star Travis Kelce Gets Honor Reserved for Those Over 30\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chiefs Star Travis Kelce Gets Honor Reserved for Those Over 30 - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chiefs Star Travis Kelce Gets Honor Reserved for Those Over 30 - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"Getty Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce made the cut on a special tally, but it&#8217;s a bit of a backhanded compliment. The NFL is packed...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-05-21T23:37:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":618,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1526288778-1_876ba0.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067","name":"Chiefs Star Travis Kelce Gets Honor Reserved for Those Over 30 - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1526288778-1_876ba0.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-21T23:37:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-21T23:37:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1526288778-1_876ba0.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1526288778-1_876ba0.jpg","width":1100,"height":618},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50067#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chiefs Star Travis Kelce Gets Honor Reserved for Those Over 30"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50067"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50069,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50067\/revisions\/50069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/50068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}