After 13 years of playing center for the Philadelphia Eagles, Jason Kelce has officially decided to hang up his cleats.
On Monday, Kelce held a press conference and delivered an emotional retirement speech as he gave his thanks and narrated the highlights of his storied career – from the backyard to the brightest lights of the NFL.
Kelce first hinted at retirement after the Eagles’ wild-card loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January. After spending time ‘figuring out’ the situation while supporting his brother Travis on his way to winning a third title last month, Jason finally gave clarity about his future.
‘The end of one of the things you love most in your life is there and you are going to have to come to grips with that.
‘You might be struggling and you don’t know it. I feel like you might be struggling in football but you get that win, that little shot, dopamine, like ‘I got it’. I’m a big ‘hit’ guy.’
After getting drafted by the Eagles in 2011, Kelce immediately became loved by the Philadelphia fanbase. While his presence on the field was valued, his character outside gave fans even more reason to adore him as a person.
From his battles with Travis and winning a Super Bowl, to his victory parade costume and topless celebration in front of Taylor Swift in Buffalo. Here DailyMail.com looks back at Kelce’s career in pictures.
While he was projected to be a fourth round pick, Jason Kelce was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft out of the University of Cincinnati.
His quality as a player and character as a person off the field made Kelce a beloved figure among the Philadelphia sports fanbase.
In 2017, Kelce and the Eagles won the Super Bowl by defeating the New England Patriots, 41-33. Kelce joined the celebrations as the team won their first title in the Super Bowl era.
After winning the title, Kelce showed up to the victory parade in a Mummers suit and delivered a passionate speech about being underdogs and overcoming adversity.
Over his career, Kelce made six First-team All-Pro and seven Pro Bowl selections. He played in a total of 193 games and started all of them.
While he was as serious as it gets on the field, Kelce was known for being funny. In 2022, he joined Phillies mascot Phillie Phanatic on the field during a game against San Diego.
Another iconic moment that showed Kelce’s character during his career was when he wore a batman mask on the field before a game against the Steelers.
In 2023, Jason and the Eagles squared off against his younger brother Travis and the Chiefs. Kansas City went on to win the game, 38-35.
Jason and Travis started playing football together in their backyard as kids and were teammates in college before finding success in the NFL.
In 2023, the Kelce brothers started a weekly podcast called ‘New Heights’ where they discussed events around the NFL. The podcast has found incredible success just a year later.
In 2023, Jason was in attendance when Travis hosted comedy show Saturday Night Live with Kelsea Ballerini in New York City.
2023 also marked the start of Travis and Taylor Swift’s headline-grabbing relationship. Eagles fans were quick to cite Jason and D’Andre Swift as the ‘OG Kelce-Swift duo’.
Jason first met Swift when the Chiefs played against the Buffalo Bills in the divisional playoffs. During the game, Jason famously took his shirt off after Travis scored a touchdown.
Jason was also present in the star-studded VIP suite in Las Vegas during the Super Bowl in February. Jason, Swift, Ice Spice and Blake Lively watched as the Chiefs defeated the 49ers.
Jason and Travis’ mother Donna was never torn between her sons. Ahead of Super Bowl LVII, Donna wore an Eagles-Chiefs jersey and gifted her sons with some cookies.