Philadelphia Eagles star center Jason Kelce said he will make an official announcement about the status of his NFL career “in the future.”
“I'm not trying to be dramatic and make this thing stand out,” Kelce said on Wednesday's episode of New Heights, the podcast he hosts with his brother Travis. “It's just something that when I think it's time to officially announce what happens going forward, it will be done in a way that is definitive and respectful of a lot of people and individuals who have meant a lot to me, and what has led up to this.” To the career I had.
After the Eagles' loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, several reports said that Kelce intended to retire from the NFL after completing his 13th season, and that he informed his teammates of his decision in the locker room following the wild-card loss.
Kelce said Wednesday that he did not go public about what he was doing “on purpose.”
He told his brother: “I don't think you are in a position after a match like this to make this decision.”
He cited the feelings he felt after the tough loss and the end of a promising season, which began with the Eagles starting 10-1 before losing six of their last seven games.
Kelce said on the podcast that he addressed the team after the game and told his teammates: “I have confidence in every one of you guys. Cherish the moments you have in this league.”
“That's kind of the way things went down,” he said.
Kelce said players told him they felt bad because his potential last game was a playoff loss.
“I'm saying: 'Don't feel sorry for me,'” Kelsey said before pausing to visibly fight his emotions.
Go deeper
Eagles in disbelief as promising season comes to a close: 'It's simply not our role'
After Monday's game, Kelce walked off the field on his own, turned into the corner of the tunnel and was immediately greeted outside the visitors' locker room by general manager Howie Roseman. The two shook hands and embraced. Kelsey dressed in his closet, faced the group of waiting reporters and shook his head politely.
“No, guys,” Kelsey said. “Not today. Sorry.”
There may not be another active NFL player more closely associated with the city in which he plays. Kelsey is appropriately Philadelphian. A sixth-round pick in 2011, he was an underdog in a city that defined itself by them. By retiring after a season in which the 36-year-old earned his sixth All-Pro selection, Kelce will leave the sport at the top of his game in every sense of the word.
He has discussed retirement publicly both privately and publicly over the past year. Kelce told reporters last week that the idea that he might be playing his last game crossed his mind for the first time in three seasons.
His health and quality of life were also a major topic in the Amazon Prime-produced documentary “Kelce,” which followed the center throughout the 2022 season.
Kelce's football legacy makes him an instant legend in both the NFL and Philadelphia sports lore and a likely candidate to be the first induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Kelce is the fifth in league history to have been named All-Pro at least six times. The other four — Dermotie Dawson, Jim Otto, Jim Ringo and Bulldog Turner — are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Required reading
“Alcohol enthusiast. Twitter ninja. Tv lover. Falls down a lot. Hipster-friendly coffee geek.”