Eagles’ Jason Kelce Announces Retirement After 13 NFL Seasons; Won Super Bowl 52
Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
After disputing a previous report about his future in the NFL, Jason Kelce has officially announced his retirement after 13 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Kelce made his announcement Monday during an emotional press conference that saw him attempt to read a prepared speech, but stopped several times because he began to cry.
NFL @NFL
Nobody cares more about this game than @JasonKelce. ❤️😢 pic.twitter.com/FEnllKeDtR
Philadelphia Eagles @Eagles
The greatest to ever do it 🐐
Congratulations on an incredible NFL career, Jason Kelce. pic.twitter.com/HNRn5etpna
Philadelphia Eagles @Eagles
To the GOAT. Thank you, thank you, thank you. pic.twitter.com/N4TMP2LbHH
In the aftermath of Philadelphia’s 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card Game on Jan. 15, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Kelce told teammates in the locker room he was retiring.
On the Jan. 17 episode of the New Heights podcast, Kelce said he hadn’t made any decisions and would make his intentions public when he was ready.
New Heights @newheightshow
When the time is right, you’ll hear from the man himself
New episode premieres NOW: https://t.co/lxUrkMbzk6 pic.twitter.com/fdxfOPETlU
Despite the confusion leading up to this moment, it isn’t a big surprise that Kelce arrived at this decision. He openly talked about the possibility of this being his final season as recently as October.
James Palmer @JamesPalmerTV
Everywhere you look there’s Jason Kelce. But is it too much? Is he spreading himself too thin?
“This is going to be over pretty soon here. If it’s this year, which it very well could be …” 👀
Also, a full replay of #TheNFLReport right NOW!https://t.co/JxYSZDi1fh pic.twitter.com/97ZTsa6plR
There were rumblings after the Eagles’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57 last year that he might walk away from the NFL.
“I’m not saying that yet,” Kelce said when asked about retirement during his postgame press conference after that Super Bowl. “We’ll see.”
With the Eagles expected to contend for the Super Bowl again during the 2023 season, Kelce elected to return for a 13th season and signed a one-year deal with the club.
It looked like Philadelphia was going to be a juggernaut once again after starting the season 10-1 through 11 games. Things took a dramatic turn from that point, as the reigning NFC champs lost five of their final six regular-season games.
The Eagles were unable to get out of that downward spiral in their playoff game against the Bucs, leading to many questions about the future of the organization.
Kelce has been an instrumental part of Philadelphia’s success from the moment he was drafted in the sixth round in 2011. He started all 205 games he played in the regular season and playoffs.
The 36-year-old has been named to the All-Pro first team six times in the past seven seasons. Aaron Donald (eight) and Zack Martin (seven) are the only active players with more All-Pro first-team selections.
Kelce was a member of the Eagles team that defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52 to win the first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.
