Eagles’ Jason Kelce announces retirement after 13 seasons

PHILADELPHIA — Eagles star center Jason Kelce, one of the key leaders of a team that made six playoff appearances and two Super Bowl trips over the past seven seasons, announced his retirement in a tear-filled speech Monday , closing the book on a Hall of Fame-worthy career.

“I've been asked many times why I chose football – what drew me to the game – and I never have an answer that's right,” said Kelce, dressed in a t- Eagles sleeveless shirt, at a 45 year old football game. detailed speech that he had to interrupt several times as he was overcome by emotion. “The best way I could explain it is what draws you to your favorite song… your favorite book. It's how it makes you feel. Its seriousness. Its intensity.

“Walking on the field was the most alive and free feeling I had ever had. There was a visceral feeling with football unlike any sport. The hairs on my arms stood up. I could hit someone, run like a crazy man and then they say, ‘Good job.’ I love football.”

Selected in the sixth round in 2011, Kelce, 36, played his entire 13-year career with the Eagles. He was selected to seven Pro Bowls in 13 seasons and was named first-team All-Pro for the sixth time in 2023 – proof that he played at an elite level until his last snap.

“It’s always been a goal of mine to play my entire career in one city,” Kelce said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better if I tried.”

Since the 1970 merger, he is the only center to win a Super Bowl and earn first-team All-Pro honors six times.

Kelce's parents, Ed and Donna, were in attendance, as were his wife Kylie and his brother Travis Kelce, the star tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs who wore sunglasses inside the auditorium.

Kelce had considered retiring several times over the past few years, but it became clear that things would be different this time around when, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, he told his teammates that his playing days were over after the loss to Tampa. Bay Buccaneers in January.

“If it was his last game, he was one of the best teammates I ever had,” right tackle Lane Johnson said then. “A guy whose passion is unmatched. A guy I saw Philly try to run him out of town. I saw a guy emerge from that and become maybe the best center ever to play.”

Kelce is the fifth center in NFL history with at least six All-Pro selections. The other four – Jim Otto, Bulldog Turner, Dermontti Dawson and Jim Ringo – are all inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

To the GOAT. Thanks thanks thanks. pic.twitter.com/N4TMP2LbHH

– Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) March 4, 2024

The hero we needed. 💚 pic.twitter.com/b5LmiC84Oi

– NFL (@NFL) March 4, 2024

Go ahead and install the Gold Jacket now.

Congratulations on a great career @JasonKelce

A pleasure and an honor to share the field with you.

🙏🏼

– JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 4, 2024

Congratulations Jason Kelce on an incredible 13 year career. Much respect for the way you did it week after week, year after year. It was an honor to watch you play👊🏼

– Troy Aikman (@TroyAikman) March 4, 2024

Little was said about Kelce's arrival when he was selected in the sixth round of the 2011 draft. A running back in Cincinnati who converted to guard and then center, he was undersized and overshadowed by the big free agency signings from the “Dream Team” of cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, quarterback Vince Young and others that year – a group that was famous faded away.

Kelce, meanwhile, won the starting center job and became a mainstay even as his head coaches moved from Andy Reid to Chip Kelly to Doug Pederson to Nick Sirianni.

“Jason gave of himself for others, played through injuries and never wavered through the ups and downs of our seasons and his personal career,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. communicated. “He's a man of many talents: he could drink beers with fans at a tailgate, he could sing in a Christmas album and raise millions for charity, or he could talk about X's and O's all day long. day with his coaches and teammates. And then after all that, he could do things on the football field that no other offensive lineman is capable of doing.

“If you talk to anyone in the organization about what Jason means to him, they'll all find something different. It's a testament to who he is as a person and how much he cares about getting into contact with others.”

He missed a month after sports hernia surgery in 2014 and had a rough 2015 campaign that raised questions about his long-term status in Philadelphia. He then set a franchise record by starting 156 consecutive regular season games despite a myriad of injuries.

“I’ve been the underdog my whole career,” Kelce said. “And I mean it when I say it, I always wish I was.”

He endeared himself to the city and its die-hard fans with his parade speech after the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017. Dressed as one of the famous Philadelphia Mummers, he gave a fiery speech and profane who sent the crowd into a frenzy.

“I won’t forget the parade and what it meant to the city of Philadelphia,” Kelce said Monday. “The joy in our community and the closure it brought to so many. The stories of fans who had waited for this moment for generations took this triumph to another level. … That wasn't my speech. It was the one from Philadelphia.”

A succession plan is in place. Cam Jurgens was selected in the second round of the 2022 draft to be Kelce's heir apparent at center. Right after that selection was made, Kelce called Jurgens “my favorite player in the draft,” saying the Eagles had asked him to evaluate centers coming out of college over the past two or three years. Jurgens was the one who compared most favorably to him.

Kelce has many options for his post-playing career. He became a local icon after the Eagles won Super Bowl LII in 2018. It has since grown to national and now international fame, starting with the Eagles' “Kelce Bowl.” Eagles-Chiefs and the popular podcast “New Heights” then reached another level. from the stratosphere when his brother Travis started dating singer Taylor Swift, one of the most recognizable people on the planet.

Broadcasting is an attractive option, with several networks courting him in Las Vegas in the run-up to Super Bowl LVIII.

“Today is a bittersweet day,” Lurie said in his statement, “because while it is difficult to imagine the Eagles taking the field without Jason Kelce in uniform, we are also excited to celebrate his career and to support him as he continues his journey.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.