Fighting back tears, Jason Kelce announces retirement and salutes brother Travis
At several junctures during his emotional retirement speech on Monday, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce paused to collect his thoughts and fight back sobs.
One of those moments came when he spoke of his love for his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
“This is where it’s going to go off the rails,” Jason Kelce said as he recalled the conflicted emotions he felt two years ago after Super Bowl LVII, when the Eagles fell to the Chiefs.
“I won’t forget falling short to the Chiefs and the conflicted feeling of immense heartbreak I had selfishly. For my self an for my teammates, and at the same time, the amount of pride I had for my brother, who climbed the mountaintop once again.”
Jason Kelce said he and Travis. coming from a small family, were inseparable growing up.
“It was my brother and I our whole lives,” he said. ”We did almost everything together, competed, fought, laughed, cried and learned from each other ...
“There is no chance I’d be here without the bond Travis and I shared.”
That bond carried into their college careers at Cincinnati and their professional lives, with the brothers teaming up for the popular “New Heights” podcast, and Jason following his brother and the Chiefs on their second straight Super Bowl run this season.
Travis Kelce attended the retirement ceremony in Philadelphia.
“It’s only too poetic I found my career being fulfilled in the City of Brotherly Love,’ Jason Kelce said “I knew that relationship all too well.”
Jason Kelce also recalled his original Eagles coach, Andy Reid, who has been with the Chiefs for the past 11 seasons. It was Reid who made the phone call to inform Jason that he had been selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft.
Two years later, Reid made the same call to Travis, who was taken in the third round by the Chiefs.
Kelce’s retirement had been widely speculated. He steps down after a 13-year career that included making seven Pro Bowls and six All-Pro teams. The Eagles won the Super Bowl after the 2017 season.
This story was originally published March 4, 2024 at 1:27 PM.