Jason Kelce to call Eagles-Jaguars after impressive debut on NFL Network

The Eagles (2-2) will take on the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-1) at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London Sunday morning, where Birds fans will hear a familiar voice in the booth.

Former Eagles center-turned-media star Jason Kelce will be calling the game on the NFL Network alongside play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch and Hall of Famer Kurt Warner.

It’s one of four games Kelce will call this season on the NFL Network, now owned by ESPN. He was impressive in his debut last week calling the Indianapolis Colts’ victory over the Washington Commanders, especially when the game called for a little energy from the booth after Commanders offensive lineman Brandon Coleman made an unlikely catch off a deflected pass.

“That never happens!” Kelce yelled.

Jeff Dufine, a longtime ESPN producer in his first year running the international game broadcasts, said there were a few moments during the game where Kelce really stood out. One was at the end of the third quarter, when the way Colts quarterback Daniel Jones positioned his foot signaled to Kelce it was going to be a sneak.

“Whenever a quarterback is under center, usually their feet are square,” Kelce explains during the broadcast. “When his foot is back and staggered, it’s a very good chance he’s going to lunge forward and run a quarterback sneak. They try to hide it with the motion. ... He gets up there and just puts his foot back from the motion, but he doesn’t bring it back.”

“Little things like that he noticed and jumped on early,” Dufine said.

Dufine knew Kelce was on deck to call games in the summer and needed reps alongside Pasch and Warner before his debut on national TV. The trio met in Houston in August to do a mock call of a preseason game between the Texans and Los Angeles Chargers being broadcast by ESPN, allowing Kelce to get a feel for what it would be like in the booth.

“It was good for them to go through the motions, get a good rapport, all those things,” Dufine said. “Since Jason had never done a game before, it was good practice on the little things, like getting in and out of commercial breaks, replay sequences, hearing me in his ear.”

With Pasch calling college football games, Warner on the radio calling NFL games for Westwood One, and Kelce basically everywhere, getting the trio together again was tricky. But in Week 3, Kelce was able to jump on to the radio with Warner and call a quarter of the Eagles’ loss to the Chicago Bears on Westwood One, alongside veteran play caller Kevin Harlan.

One good thing about Kelce is he’s not that far removed from his playing days and has an obvious understanding of line play. Dufine’s advice for Kelce has been pretty simple — just be yourself and offer honest analysis.

“He sees the game really well,” Dufine said. “Just tell me what you’re seeing and we’ll support you the best way we can throughout the course of the game.”

Sunday’s game could obviously be tricky for Kelce because of his obvious connection to the Eagles. Back in Week 3, he apologized to Bears fans after being called out during the pregame show for repeatedly using “we” to refer to the Eagles.

“We’ve tried to get the ‘we’ out of him,” Dufine said, noting it’s a very common mistake when former players and coaches are talking about their previous teams.

“I want to assure Jags fans I’ve seen a lot of the Jags accounts already saying that they’re not looking forward to this,” Kelce said on the most recent episode of his New Heights podcast. “I will be doing my utmost to give you guys the credit you deserve. Jacksonville’s playing as good as any team right now in the AFC. I really do believe that.”

Kelce’s jump to the booth comes at an interesting time for ESPN. The network recently signed Monday Night Football announcer Joe Buck to a contract extension, but reportedly won’t discuss one with analyst Troy Aikman until after the Super Bowl. With a possible opening in the No. 1 booth at CBS due to the Tony Romo situation, it’s possible ESPN could be looking for a new Monday Night Football analyst to pair with Buck.

“I’ve been in this business long enough to know nothing is a guarantee,” Buck told The Inquirer last month. “So my only answer to any of that is we’ll see.”

ESPN also needs to decide whether to re-sign Kelce, whose contract is also up at the end of the season. He’s in his third season on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown pregame show, but the network added another high-energy personality this year in Pat McAfee.

Kelce’s also taken the opportunity to do a variety of random gigs with ESPN, ranging from hosting a short-lived late-night show in Philadelphia to caddying at the Masters Par 3 Contest, which drew intense criticism from golf fans. And in addition to Eagles-Jaguars, he’ll call two more NFL Network games this season — Pittsburg Steelers vs. the New Orleans Saints in Paris on Oct. 25 and a to-be-determined matchup in Week 16 on Dec. 26.

“We’re definitely capitalizing on the ability to go and do random things,” Kelce told CBS analyst and Eagles preseason announcer Ross Tucker on his podcast in July. “Maybe too much.”

In addition to broadcasting on the NFL Network, Sunday’s Eagles-Jaguars game will also simulcast on 6abc thanks to NFL rules requiring local games air on broadcast television.

In Jacksonville, fans can watch the game on FOX30.

The game can also be heard on 94.1 WIP, with Merrill Reese — in his 50th season as the voice of the Eagles — calling the game alongside former Birds receiver Mike Quick.

The Spanish radio call — featuring Rickie Ricardo, Oscar Budejen, and Dave Gerhardt — can be heard on the Eagles website and on a handful of stations, including La Mega 105.7 FM in Philadelphia, 93.9 FM in Atlantic City, and 103.3 FM in Vineland/Millville.

Here are the broadcast details