Jason Kelce says he’ll decide ‘hopefully soon’ if he’s retiring after losing Kelce Bowl to brother Travis

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jason Kelce hugged his younger brother Sunday night before leaving State Farm Stadium as red and yellow confetti sprayed the field. Travis Kelce won the Kelce Bowl — er, the Super Bowl — and had a trophy to lift while his older brother walked toward a solemn Eagles locker room.

“It’s going to be an awkward podcast for me, this next one,” the Eagles center said after the Birds fell, 38-35, to the Kansas City Chiefs. “But you can’t win them all.”

The brothers will record their weekly podcast as early as Tuesday; Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce will parade with his teammates on Wednesday, and Jason’s wife, Kylie, is 38 weeks pregnant with the couple’s third daughter. It’s lining up to be a busy week for the Kelces. After it all, Jason Kelce will have to decide if he will return for season No. 13.

“I’m not saying that yet,” said the 35-year-old, coming off his fifth All-Pro season. “We’ll see. There’s a lot of factors that go into that. One day, hopefully soon, I can answer that question.”

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He had said before the Super Bowl that Sunday’s result — win or loss — would not factor into his decision. He has contemplated retirement after the last few seasons and will give a similar thought to playing next season.

“Jason definitely has a lot of thinking, too,” said defensive end Brandon Graham, who joined the Eagles a year before Kelce was selected in 2011′s sixth round. “I know he’s going to make the right choice for his family. I love that guy, man, because I see day in and day out the stuff he went through this year with the injuries that he was dealing with. The little stuff that he was dealing with, but you couldn’t tell because he has a heart of a lion.”

Kelce walked into the stadium Sunday wearing a shirt from Cleveland Heights High School, from which he graduated in 2006 without a scholarship offer to play Division I football. He walked on at Cincinnati as a linebacker, redshirted his freshman season, and then watched the coaches he came to play for leave for a bigger job.

The new staff watched him in the weight room and thought he was better suited for the offensive line. Kelce, when asked for what he thought, asked the coaches where his scholarship was. And that was how a Hall of Fame-caliber career started.

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“Trust me, I hope he comes back,” Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata said. “He’s one of the greatest leaders that I’ve ever met, that I’ve ever known, and one of the greatest players that I’ve ever played with. It’s been such an honor to play with him. He’s meant the world to me because he’s taught me with such brutal honesty how to play this game, and he’s only done that because he loves me. He wants me to be great. For me, it was all about chasing greatness and chasing the standard that Kelce set in that room.”

It was one of the NFL’s premier offensive lines that paved the Eagles’ way to the Super Bowl. Kelce was flanked at the tackle positions by Mailata and Lane Johnson, as well as guards Isaac Seumalo and Landon Dickerson. The Eagles finished the regular season with the fifth-most rushing yards as Kelce and Co. cleared the lanes.

“He’s been a great leader. He’s been a great player for us, and still played tremendously this year,” edge rusher Haason Reddick said. “Ultimately though, it’s Kelce’s decision and I support him whatever decision he makes. I would love to have him back, but Kelce is his own man. He’s played football for a long time and it’s up to Kelce to make that decision. If he’s back, we’ll love to have him back. If not? Man, what a career he’s had. I feel like he should be on his way to Canton and I’d congratulate him on his career and it was an honor that I got to play with him this year. He’s a hell of a player. Great character, and I have a lot of love for him.”

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The spotlight before the Super Bowl shined on the Kelce brothers as they fielded questions for four straight days about being the first brothers to oppose each other in the big game. Their mother, Donna, appeared on nearly every morning show and even scored a light beer endorsement. The brothers recorded their podcast from Radio Row, and Donna Kelce was interviewed on the field while her sons met at midfield for the coin toss.

The family found a way to take the week in stride, using it as a chance to share its story. The brothers changed positions in college and became two of the best to ever play their new positions in the NFL. They overcame obstacles — Jason Kelce was a late-round lottery ticket and Travis Kelce was kicked off the team at Cincinnati after his freshman year — and leaned on each other to persevere. A week of big-game hype provided the world a peek into the family from Cleveland Heights.

“It’s hard to get here,” Jason Kelce said. “I haven’t really allowed the emotion to get to me yet and I’m sure we’ll have a more emotional interaction. But I’m really, really happy for Trav. He played his butt off. That team deserved everything they had coming to them. They earned it. I have a lot of respect for everyone in that organization. There’s a lot of people in that organization who gave me my start in the league, including the head coach Andy Reid. Obviously, I would’ve liked to win but I’m happy for Trav.”

Jason Kelce stayed Sunday on the field, standing in the corner of the end zone after he hugged his brother. He watched Travis Kelce climb on a stage a few yards away and lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy with the Chiefs.

Most of the other Eagles were inside the locker room after a difficult loss. Jason Kelce said the night stung for him, too, as it was the first time he lost a Super Bowl, after having memorably won his other one five years earlier.

But the big brother wanted to watch his little brother’s moment before he walked into the tunnel that led to the locker room. Jason Kelce will decide soon if that was the last time he left the field.

“I’ve talked to my brother more this year than I’ve probably talked to him since college,” Jason Kelce said. “He’s an incredible person. It’s been truly a joy. Probably one of my most enjoyable seasons both as an Eagle and as a brother.”

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