Jason Kelce was the star of Eagles-Falcons on ESPN. Then the Birds lost.

Well that’s not how anyone expected Jason Kelce’s return to the Linc to end.

But before the Eagles epic collapse against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football, ESPN’s newest star got exactly what he wanted when he decided to add NFL analyst to his busy life of post-retirement gigs.

“Being involved on game day is one of the few ways a player can remain connected to the game,” Kelce said after walking out of the booth Monday night, wiping the sweat from his brow. “You get to go to the site, you’re not just in a studio somewhere.”

» READ MORE: ‘Monday Night Football’ had a very Philly vibe — thanks, Jason Kelce — and more highlights from Eagles-Falcons

ESPN made Kelce the center of the broadcast Monday. Kelce spent most of the night bouncing around in a green velour track suit he called a “South Philly tuxedo,” dancing and chanting with Birds fans, getting visits from everyone from Eagles owner Jeff Lurie to Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, and even joining the Monday Night Football booth to call part of the game alongside Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

With two minutes to go, it looked like ESPN made a smart bet making the broadcast Eagles-heavy. But a Saquon Barkley drop, a Kirk Cousins touchdown, and a Jalen Hurts interception later, it was Falcons fans who suddenly felt vindicated, especially after Kelce picked the Eagles to win by 50 points. He even joked during the broadcast about fans getting “tired of seeing my face.”

But Kelce’s turn from a locker room leader to an energetic pregame show front man not afraid to have a little fun is exactly what ESPN wanted.

“He’s different. He’s big. He’s authentic,” Seth Markman, ESPN’s vice president of production, told The Inquirer Monday outside Xfinity Live!, speaking over Eagles chants from the crowd.

Different is one word for it.

“We want Jason Kelce to be Jason Kelce,” Markman said.

Kelce might be the only NFL sports talker this side of Pat McAfee who could get away with using a slang word for women’s breasts during a live broadcast, a slip long-time ESPN broadcaster Scott Van Pelt and crew mocked him for Monday (fellow Monday Night Countdown analyst Ryan Clark repeated it so quick, ESPN didn’t have a chance to bleep it).

Markman said that irreverence is part of the Kelce experience, something ESPN knew they were getting when they landed the former Eagles star.

One reason Kelce decided to join ESPN was its pitch to put him live in front of fans and players. Before the Eagles took the field Monday, that concept paid off, with screaming fans making Monday Night Countdown feel more like an episode of College GameDay.

Markman said it’s almost impossible to replicate the experience of being on a college campus during an NFL broadcast, but Kelce and South Philly came close.

Lurie stopped by to say hello to his former star. Donna Kelce, Jason’s mom, received a loud cheer from the Eagles crowd. So did retired Eagles star Fletcher Cox and Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles, both donning dog masks in a surprise appearance. At one point, Kelce even challenged tattooed super fan Rob Dunphy to a chest bump that ended with Dunphy injuring his knee.

“Yea I got hurt doing a chest bump,” Dunphy wrote on social media late Monday night. “But I got higher than Kelce.”

While he certainly gave fans the Kelce experience, he wasn’t on the entire time. Like any other TV professional, Kelce scrolled his phone during commercial breaks and got feedback from producers and his fellow analysts, Clark and Marcus Spears. The show isn’t structured and a lot is left up to the hosts, so those quiet moments gave Kelce and company the chance to relax and reset during their two hours on the air.

During an ESPN media event last month, Van Pelt said the plan was to lean into Kelce’s ties to the Eagles during Monday’s broadcast. “There’s no reason to pretend like he doesn’t have passion for this team,” Van Pelt said. They certainly stuck to that plan, even if it mean annoying Falcons fans.

During the third quarter, Kelce switched from the South Philly tuxedo to an Eagles green blazer to call some game action alongside Buck and Aikman.

After a slow start, Kelce seemed to warm up to calling the action live, offering insight about his former teammate and replacement at center, Cam Jurgens (”That’s farm strength right there. He grew up on a cattle farm, beef jerky is his nickname.”). Kelce also had the opportunity to call an Eagles touchdown off a “tush push,” a play he helped create and master.

“I think I got better as it went. There were a couple [of moments] trying to figure out where you fit in and what to say,” Kelce said after exiting the booth. “I think everybody saw Tom Brady’s first week performance and had a lot of criticism for it … I got to see firsthand why that’s so hard, for sure.”

Markman said Kelce expressed an interest calling games, one thing he did during the NFL’s broadcast boot camp for players a few years ago in Los Angeles. He certainly seemed to enjoy his time with Buck and Aikman, remaining in the booth nearly the entire third quarter and into the fourth.

“It’s the most challenging” aspect of an NFL broadcast, Kelce said, part of why it’s so appealing. “In the heat of the moment, you have to offer a perspective or something the viewer can take and enjoy. For me, when you’re doing that live all in the moment in real-time, it’s difficult.”

Maybe the best decision Kelce made all night, besides opting not to crowd surf outside Xfinity Live!, was to leave the booth while the Eagles were still up by three. While it would’ve been interesting to hear Kelce break down what went wrong during the those final two minutes, Buck seemed to sum things up as succinctly as he could for Eagles fans.

“I’ve been doing NFL games for 31 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever been as shocked as fast as I was tonight with the way this game ended.” Buck said.