Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce officially announced his retirement in an emotional press conference Monday. Following his retirement, he will now be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2029.
The beloved offensive lineman thanked the organization, the city, his wife Kylie, his parents, Ed and Donna, and his brother Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs. He delivered numerous and powerful remarks reflecting on his career.
“Thank you for letting me represent this city and allowing me into your homes every Sunday,” said Kelce.
Jason Kelce, a Cleveland Heights Native, began his football career as a walk-on linebacker at the University of Cincinnati. In his junior year, he was named second-team All-Big East, starting all 13 games at left guard. From there, he won two Big East Conference championships in 2008 and 2009.
“It has always been a goal of mine to play my whole career in one city, and I couldn’t have dreamt a better one and a better fit if I tried,” said Kelce.
He broke down in tears throughout the entire press conference and showed true emotion when talking about how the city represented brotherly love. Any athlete retiring in front of their friends, family, spouses and teammates is bound to display some level of emotion.
Kelce was drafted in the sixth round by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2011 NFL Draft and would be one of the biggest steals of the year. The Ohio native was elected to the Pro Bowl seven times (2014, 2016, and 2019-2023) and named NFL AP-All Pro six times. Kelce is widely considered as one of the league’s all-time greatest centers.
The longtime Eagle was part of Philly’s Super Bowl run in 2017, defeating the defending champions New England Patriots 41-33. He started 193 games for the team and holds the record for most consecutive starts with the franchise. Additionally, he was the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee in 2021 and has been involved in charity with his work for the Eagles Autism Foundation.
What’s next for the beloved star? Many consider the possibility of him staying in the realm of sports due to his highly successful podcast with his brother Travis. “New Heights” is a podcast run by the Kelce brothers and has recruited famous guests across the NFL. They have 2.31 million subscribers on YouTube, 2.5 million followers on Instagram and 4.1 million followers on TikTok. It seems fitting that the former Eagle will continue to dump his time into the podcast, and potential big-name media companies could eventually buy the rights of the show.
Having former players as analysts has been crucial to draw in higher viewership and revenue for stations like ESPN, ABC, FOX, CBS, Amazon Prime, the NFL Network and NBC. He will be one of the most appealing free agents because of the high engagement and success he’s had from the “New Heights” podcast.
Kelce’s life vastly changed with his brother dating global sensation Taylor Swift. Embracing that popularity has been astonishing for the entire Kelce family as the group has been one of the most searched names on the internet. There was a documentary released through Amazon Prime called “Kelce,” and people across the world were immediately drawn in by how Kelce raised his family.
For the Swifties, Kelce did name drop some references from her songs in his retirement speech.
“It’s only too poetic I found my career being fulfilled in the city of brotherly love, a relationship all I knew all too well,” said Kelce.
A couple of days later, “New Heights” officially released their episode 80th episode, “Jason on Retirement, Travis Down Under and Flaming Tables.” Kelce had debated retiring the last few seasons and reflected on how nerve-racking it was announcing his retirement on Monday.
Travis joked with Jason throughout the podcast about how he wanted Jason to keep playing. In the past, the NFL world has seen other retired players like former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski join Tom Brady in Tampa Bay. With Jason being 36 years old, it would be unwise if he took a year off to then come back and play.
“To have you out of it, man it feels empty and it definitely feels like it’s complete. It was a success,” said Travis as he broke down into tears on the podcast with Jason.
Jason Kelce demonstrated his love for Philadelphia and has cemented himself as a city legend. His 2018 Super Bowl rant at the Eagle Super Bowl Parade will forever be remembered as one of the most memorable victory speeches in football history.
The multi-time Pro Bowler will have many options on the table for sports announcing, coaching, podcast appearances and, who knows, maybe acting. It will be interesting to see what Kelce does in his post-football life.
