Our best Jason Kelce stories; Eagles players discuss his legacy, his career by the numbers, and more

The legendary Eagles center made his retirement official at Monday's press conference.

Eagles center Jason Kelce (62) leads the offensive line onto the field against the New York Jets on Oct. 15.Read moreHeather Khalifa / Staff Photographer

Published Mar. 4, 2024, 12:44 p.m. ET

It feels like Eagles fans have been waiting some time for a decision on the future of Jason Kelce — perhaps because it’s almost been two months since the Birds’ season abruptly came to an end in the wild-card round. During the game, Kelce was seen being emotional on the sideline and hinted to his teammates after that the loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be his finale.

On Monday afternoon, we finally got resolution as the longtime Eagles center announced his retirement during a press conference at the NovaCare Complex.

In January when Kelce first hinted that this past season would be his last, we produced a ton of great content on the legendary Eagle. Here are some highlights ... with much more expected throughout the day.

Why would Kelce retire?

If you watched the Kelce documentary on Prime Video, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Kelce has been considering retirement. He talked openly in that documentary about the 2022 Super Bowl season — the one chronicled in the documentary — as possibly being his last, before ultimately deciding to return for another season.

The season ended horribly for the Birds, losing six of their last seven games, including blowout defeats in three straight, including in the playoffs, to end their season. But that wasn’t the only reason Kelce was considering hanging it up.

As Marcus Hayes wrote in the immediate aftermath of the season, Kelce said it was “Wednesdays” — which to football players are like our Mondays — that were wearing on him more than anything else.

In the end, the Wednesdays are pushing Jason Kelce toward retirement.

On a Wednesday afternoon about two months ago, as he sat at his locker, stripping tape off his fingers and cutting tape off his cleats, Kelce answered a question I’d only casually asked.

“Is this going to be your last year?” I said.

“I don’t know. I do know — I mean, Wednesdays,” he said. “The Wednesdays are getting harder. Really, that’s the only thing.”

The only thing?

“Yeah,” he replied. “You’re sore Monday, you’re off Tuesday, but Wednesday ... I’m just having a hard time getting going again on Wednesdays. Getting the juice, you know?”

I know. You know, too. ...

Kelce told me that, this season, for the first time, his body was still tired and sore on Wednesdays. He seemed mentally fatigued, too; after all, he’s been playing nursemaid to two young, insecure quarterbacks for the past nine years. Nine years. Think about that.

Marcus Hayes

But as Hayes went on to write, he believes it’s more than just a case of the Wednesdays that has Kelce ready to call it a career.

Who will replace Kelce?

That would be Cam Jurgens, who has been studying in Kelce’s shadow since his arrival. And Kelce thinks he’s the right man for the job. Here’s more from EJ Smith ...

Considering how he and Jurgens are similar, Kelce instead chose to point out the key difference between them, with the young lineman within earshot.

“Cam’s stronger and more powerful than I am,” Kelce said. “We’ve played with a lot of really good offensive linemen. Cam offers a good blend of explosion, power, strength, and speed. He’s probably the fastest guard I’ve ever played with, I think that’s fair to say. Brandon Brooks, even though he’s big, he could move, too. Isaac Seumalo was a very athletic guy, but Cam is certainly, probably — if you raced [all] three of those guys, Cam would win.”

That perceived difference hasn’t kept Jurgens from earning the nickname “Kelce’s shadow” by at least one of his fellow linemen.

“That’s Kelce’s shadow,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said. “He’s amazing. You can get him out in the open space, Kelce’s shadow is going to do his thing. That dude is explosive, he’s dynamic, he’s agile, his ability to read the field — he plays center, so he can read the concepts.”

EJ Smith

Kelce’s impact as a mentor

While Kelce’s impact on the field is apparent, even at a position that normally doesn’t get a lot of recognition, it’s his impact in the locker room and the offensive line room where some of his biggest contributions can go unnoticed by outsiders.

Ahead of the Eagles’ playoff game against the Bucs, knowing it could potentially be Kelce’s last, EJ Smith spoke to some of the center’s teammates about his role as mentor. Sometimes, that involves getting your hands dirty — even at 36 years old.

[Cam Jurgens] and fellow guard Landon Dickerson, who played center at Alabama before getting drafted by the Eagles in 2021, have spent their careers with Kelce as a mentor.

Jurgens said Kelce’s familiarity with the different defensive coaching trees across the NFL often leads to him knowing what the offensive line will see from an opponent on tape even before Stoutland turns on the film.

It also leads to the oldest player on the Eagles roster sometimes taking the blocking bag from younger reserves during individual drills to make sure his teammates are practicing against what they’ll see from defenders in a game.

“Seeing just how he practices and carries himself and does drills, it was super important for me,” Dickerson said. “To realize what’s expected and what I needed to do to be able to play at the level that he’s playing at. Even now, if he doesn’t think we’re getting a good look from somebody holding the bag, he’ll go and hold the bag. Usually we reserve that for younger guys — it can get rough holding the bag. But he wants to make sure that we’re getting the look that we need to.”

EJ Smith

Our best Kelce stories

There is no shortage of incredible Jason Kelce stories, including that one about him losing his shorts — and nearly drowning — in Lake Lanier. We rounded up a bunch that you can check out here, but here are two of our favorites.

From pouring beer to throwing blocks, the Eagles’ Jason Kelce is a man of Philly’s people

Mike Sielski wrote about how Kelce’s time guest bartending at the Ocean Drive in Sea Isle summed up why he’s so beloved in Philadelphia ...

Some athletes answer questions. Jason Kelce delivers lectures worthy of a college-level course. The topic of that course, loosely speaking, is the relationship between the people who root for Philadelphia’s sports teams and the people who play for Philadelphia’s sports teams.

Class is in session whenever someone asks him about his relationship to Eagles fans and to the city as a whole. Or whenever someone asks him about an athlete or athletes who have failed to connect with or faced the ire of the market’s fans and media. Or whenever he does what he did Wednesday: spend the day here, appearing on WIP 94.1 FM in the morning before guest-bartending at the Ocean Drive in the late afternoon to raise money for autism research.

Mike Sielski

Playing the saxophone in high school helped Jason Kelce become a Hall of Fame-caliber football player

Matt Breen went back to Kelce’s days in high school band in Cleveland Heights to show how his saxophone prowess helped him become a better football player ...

[Former Cleveland Heights football coach Mike] Jones worked with Brett Baker, the school’s music director, to make sure Kelce could play football and the sax. The school, like the Kelce parents, implored students to do as much as they could.

“He encouraged guys to play sports and band,” Kelce said of Baker. “I always felt like at Cleveland Heights that there wasn’t this separation between band and athletics. All of my best friends and the guys I hung out with, did both.”

“The band works hard and late hours,” Jones said. “It’s a heck of a commitment when you have to go to practice after you’re getting out of practice. He balanced his studies and he’s just a well-rounded person. What he did has helped him become the man that he is today. He was passionate about all those things and worked everything out.”

Matt Breen

What do Taylor Swift fans think of Jason Kelce?

One unexpected development in Kelce’s life over the last year is his newfound proximity to superstar Taylor Swift, who is dating Jason’s brother and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce — maybe you’ve heard about this.

Not only did Swifties fall in love with Travis, but they also fell in love with his podcast cohost as well, so much so that they were down bad after the initial news of Kelce’s likely retirement broke.

As Emily Bloch wrote in January: “On X (formerly Twitter), a Swift fan account that goes by Del posted a dramatic fan-edit video that intertwines voice-overs from Jason about his career and photos of him atop Swift’s ‘Long Live.’ It’s been viewed more than 200,000 times.”

“OH MY GOD IM SOBBING HYSTERICALLY,” another Swift fan responded to the video. “I’m gonna become a whole different person tomorrow when I see Jason talking about last night and his retirement and him and Travis both emotional over it.”

And that’s just one of the many fan videos that started pouring in for Jason.

Kelce’s legacy

So what will Jason Kelce’s legacy with the Eagles be? Much will be written on that topic in the coming days — some of it has been written already — but who better to talk to about that than his teammates, the players who saw him work day in and day out, both on and off the field.

Here’s more from Olivia Reiner’s story out of the Eagles locker room following their season-ending loss in Tampa ...

Jalen Hurts: “He’s a legend in the city, really in the league. I don’t want to do a disservice to him and the things he’s been able to do and overcome. His journey to where he is now didn’t come easy. It’s been a long, long time coming for him. Every year since I’ve been here has been, ‘Do you want to come back?’ But he knows. He knows how much I love and appreciate him.”

Lane Johnson: “I love him. He’s one of my brothers. I never had a brother growing up. I was an only child. So these guys are my family. I love him. He’s one of the best centers to ever play the game. There are few guys who can do the things he can do on the football field athletically. I don’t think we’ll see another like him for a long time.”

Jordan Mailata: “He’s a true leader ‘til the final whistle. Being real positive. Trying to get the guys’ spirits up and get us going. He’s a true leader to the final whistle, and that’s why I love him. The guy taught me how to lead.”

Kelce’s career by the numbers

It’s hard to quantify an offensive lineman’s career by numbers alone. Often, it’s a lack of numbers — few penalties, few sacks allowed — that is the mark of a truly great lineman. But when you’ve played as long and accomplished as much as Kelce, there are more than a few numbers that stand out. Here’s one of Olivia Reiner’s big numbers that defines Kelce’s career.

156

Kelce started 156 consecutive regular-season games in his Eagles career, which is a franchise record. He surpassed Jon Runyan’s previous record of 144 straight regular-season starts (2000-08) in Week 6 this season against the New York Jets. Kelce possesses the second-longest active streak in the league behind Atlanta Falcons tackle Jake Matthews (162). It is the longest streak by a center since Casey Wiegmann’s 175 starts from 2001-11 with the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos.

In total, Kelce has played 193 regular-season games for the Eagles, which is the most by an offensive lineman in the organization’s history. Only defensive end Brandon Graham has played more games with 195. According to Stathead, Kelce’s 193 games rank 18th all-time in the NFL among centers.

Olivia Reiner