Fans can also celebrate Kelce’s career by shopping for jerseys, t-shirts and other gear online at Fanatics. Here is a look at what is available for Jason Kelce Philadelphia Eagles gear on Fanatics:
Many thought the 2023 season would be Kelce’s final season after the Eagles were eliminated from the playoffs by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card Game. The 36-year-old said on his “New Heights” podcast that he hadn’t made up his mind, but posted to social media Monday morning that he’d be holding a press conference at 1 p.m. EST.
In the tearful press conference, Kelce talked about backyard football games with his brother, Travis Kelce, the love he felt from his parents and the devotion of his coaches, the support from his wife Kylie and more that helped shape him and his career.
Kelce was a sixth-round pick in the 2011 draft. He ended his career by making 156 straight starts, and he earned six All-Pro Team selections. He said it was always a goal to play his whole career in one city. He played 193 regular-season games for the Eagles.
Kelce’s eyes flooded each time he relayed a story about backyard football games with his brother, the love he felt from his parents and the devotion of his coaches — even a band teacher — that shaped him along way. But it was his career with the Philadelphia Eagles that choked up Kelce the most. The Super Bowl. The parade. His beloved offensive line coach.
All of the memories, the wins, the brotherhood — both with his fellow Eagles players and younger brother Travis, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs — consumed Kelce to the point where he needed about 45 minutes to reach the inevitable conclusion that everyone inside a crowded auditorium knew was coming from the moment a news conference was announced.
The 36-year-old Kelce officially called it quits Monday at the Eagles’ NovaCare Complex, ending a 13-year career spent entirely with Philadelphia in which he became not only one of the great centers of his era who played a key role in the franchise’s lone Super Bowl championship but a beloved Philly personality and popular podcast host.
He thanked a long list of mentors from his high school football, hockey and lacrosse coaches and his old band teachers at Cleveland Heights (Ohio) high school for putting up with a “rambunctious kid that was will full of immaturity, stupidly and cockiness.”
He thanked his coaches at Cincinnati for believing he could play center, a fortuitous decision that made him a great fit in Philadelphia, then thanked his four coaches with the Eagles.
Kelce choked up again thanking Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie for his leadership and general manager Howie Roseman for drafting him. He shared memories of his Eagles career and said he would never forget the day Reid called to tell him Kelce had been drafted by the Eagles. Kelce’s father rushed into a room, “with tears streaming down his face,” in a pure joy of the moment.
