Jason Kelce opens up on wish to play another season with Eagles but found it "very difficult to envision"
Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce announced his retirement in March 2024 after his 13-year career in the National Football League. Kelce had said that he thought about retirement a lot over the last few years and recently opened up about his decision in an interview with People Magazine.
Kelce spoke to the publication about a new partnership with Kingsford where he will star in a new commercial with former nose tackle Vance Wilfork. In the interview, he said that he pondered retirement every year for the last four years of his career.
He said that while he knew he could make another run every year, this past year was different and the thought of going through the rigors of the NFL again for another season was too much.
“I'll be very honest, the last four years I've wanted to retire at the end of seasons. The reality is it's really hard to get there. And even after we lost the Super Bowl, I wanted to come back and play for another Super Bowl. But imagining another 17 games on top of playoffs and coming back was very difficult to envision being able to do." said Kelce.
The former Philadelphia Eagles center said that he listened to his body and knew that it was time to call it a career.
"Those previous three years, I felt like I still had it in me and still wanted to and still could play at the level I felt I wanted to be able to play at and go out there and compete. And after stepping away this year, it just was more and more evident after the season that my body is telling me to stop. I don't think I could play another season at the way I want to and the way that's going to make me happy,” Kelce added.
Playing up to the high standard that he set for himself throughout his career was something he knew he could no longer do. Kelce admitted that during the 2023 season, there were times he wasn't playing at a level he was once capable of. Most NFL players come to that realization at some point during their NFL careers.
Jason Kelce teared up watching "The Eras" tour
Jason Kelce and his wife Kylie Kelce were at Taylor Swift's "The Eras" tour last week. The Grammy winner performed three shows in front of 90,000 fans each night, and the Super Bowl-winning center was tearing up at one point during the show.
On this week's episode of "New Heights" podcast, Jason Kelce said that while Swift was singing her hit song "22," he began to cry when she gave her hat to a young fan:
"I've never cried at a f**king concert, and I was literally tearing up watching this little girl's entire— I'm about to tear up right now. It was f**king, so special."
Kelce added that he was impressed with Taylor Swift's concert and that she will often spend over three hours on stage performing.