Jason Kelce was in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII this week, not long after taking his shirt off in sub-freezing temperatures in Buffalo and slugging beers with fans during the Bills’ game against his brother Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs, and he dropped a few breadcrumbs about his future.
The trail seems to be leading to retirement.
A report from Front Office Sports indicated that the Philadelphia Eagles’ longtime center has begun to explore potential TV deals with ESPN and FOX.
The report said that the talks are viewed as a “preliminary testing of the water.” Another source said that CBS, NBC, and Amazon are expected to join the pursuit of Kelce if he “officially becomes a TV free agent.”
Kelce told teammates following a disappointing playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Jan. 15. It was a decision born in the heat of the moment, and Kelce has since said he is still considering leaving the game he has played for 13 seasons, all of them spent in Philadelphia, where he has become the city’s most popular player and six-time All-Pro player.
It’s been a career that certainly seems ticketed for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Kelce stopped by Radio Row in Las Vegas to talk to former teammate Chris Long for Long’s ‘Green Light Pod’ and was asked about the decision to step away or continue playing.
“I feel really confident that the Eagles are going to be good next year,” he said. “I still think they have great talent (and) I still think they have great coaches.
“They’re going to have a whole off offseason to figure out what stalled out, what they can do to improve it. Not just the coaches, but all the people in that building, I really think they’re going to come back with a vengeance. I think Jalen Hurts is going to have a tremendous year next year. I’m very confident the Eagles will be very, very good, so I’m trying not to let that affect what’s happening.”
Sometime soon, Kelce will have to inform the Eagles of his decision, so they can either begin financially budgeting for his return or begin thinking about the succession plan, which at the moment, is Cam Jurgens.
“Selfishly, I need to make that decision – can I commit, do I want to mentally be there and do I want to endure that again? Winning helps that, but I think that you try not to factor that in the decision.
“There’s a feeling that you get I think the closer you get to stop playing that you really start to grasp what the team and the organization mean to the fans and to this city and what an honor it’s been to be able to go out there and represent the city.
“You grasp it when you’re younger but the more you play, especially in one area and the more people tell you that when you’re walking down the street, the more I think you realize that is something that everybody is going to miss when you stop.”
Some of Kelce’s teammates believe their center won’t be back.
“There’s no shot!” said left tackle Jordan Mailata on a recent podcast. “You’re telling me, he’s going shirt off at the game, gambling in the casinos, he’s coming back? No way.
“He’s having too much fun. I’m going to miss him for sure.”
