Travis Kelce might have dodged a bullet. Besides the Super Bowl LIX and a 6-11 season, 2025 brought the Chiefs’ biggest humanitarian under scrutiny. A December 31 report by the Arizona Republic alleged Kelce’s charity foundation, 87 & Running, had spent just 41 cents of every dollar it raised based on IRS filings from 2021 to 2024. However, this report failed to take $800,000 into account. 

A source close to Kelce exclusively told People Magazine that the filings haven’t yet included a massive $800,000 fund pledged by Kelce to various communities over the next three years. The only reason this didn’t show up in IRS filings is that these haven’t been fully deployed yet. 

Once these deployed funds are accounted for, 87 & Running’s efficiency rating jumps to over 80% directed towards charitable causes. And that’s well above the 70% benchmark used by many charity watchdogs. This hidden money forms a major chunk of the three-time Super Bowl champion’s personal investment. 

“The 990 forms didn’t tell the full story,” revealed the source. “Over the foundation’s history, Travis has been its primary funder, and expenses supporting charitable programs were categorized under a single line item rather than properly itemized.”

Similar statements were made by Kelce’s longtime business manager, Aaron Eanes. He cleared up the allegations made by Laurie Styron, executive director of CharityWatch, who had called Kelce’s charity “functions more as an extension of the management company,” rather than being an independent charitable organization as it should be. 

Styron’s allegation stemmed from reviewing the Republic’s report that found that 87 & Running has been paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to A&A Management Group, founded by the Eanes brothers. 

However, Aaron explained that it was merely a clerical mistake. The expenses tied directly to charitable efforts were accidentally labeled as management costs rather than “allocated adequately to program services.” That’s why the public filings fail to reflect how the foundation’s money was actually spent. 

Upon fixing these discrepancies, the management fees were slashed in 2024 and eliminated by 2025, as he emphasized. 

This almost-scandal was further fueled by a recent accolade added to Kelce’s career. On the January 7th episode of the New Heights podcast, the 36-year-old legend learned he had officially won the fan vote for Nationwide’s Charity Challenge. This adds credence to Kelce’s journey as the Chiefs’ 2025 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. 

Not only did it secure a $35,000 donation for his foundation, but it also set a historic record. He has become the only player to win the Charity Challenge every single time he has been nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year honor. Last year, with over two million votes, he became the first two-time winner of the challenge. 

For the All-Pro tight end, the charitable work is deeply personal. During his podcast, he even became nostalgic thinking about the kids he has mentored since the beginning of his career in 2013. 

“It’s cool to see some of these familiar faces grow into high school kids, and it’s awesome,” he expressed. 

The veteran tight end is now facing a major turning point in his own career.

Travis Kelce considers himself jobless 

Kelce now faces another major question: his future in Kansas City. Head coach Andy Reid claims the legendary tight end “can still play.” However, Kelce hasn’t come to a decision yet. He’s still contemplating retirement and plans to discuss with his family, and of course, the Chiefs’ leaders, before dropping the bombshell. 

But it looks like he began dropping hints. Besides his charity, the latest New Heights episode made headlines for another reason. While talking to his brother, Travis referred to himself as “officially jobless.” Did he? That’s what Jason Kelce pointed out: he has to stop playing first before calling himself unemployed. 

“I think, yeah, just being a regular human for a couple of weeks, maybe a month or so, and try and figure out what I’m going to do next in terms of my future in football,” Travis responded. 

Without revealing the details, he asserted that the Chiefs’ facility personnel know where he stands. His retirement isn’t definite yet; he clarified that it will mainly depend on how his body recovers during the offseason. If he feels he’s ready, he would return in a heartbeat for “another 18, 20, 21 week run.” For now, that’s all we’re getting from him. 

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