Jason Kelce tearfully announces NFL retirement after 13 seasons with the Eagles

Long before he embarked upon his NFL journey, Eagles center Jason Kelce aspired to play his entire career in a single city. On Monday afternoon, he officially achieved that goal.

After 13 seasons spent exclusively with the Eagles, Kelce announced his retirement in a news conference at the NovaCare Complex with his family, coaches, team personnel, and former teammates in attendance. Kelce reminisced on his football career, from Roxboro Middle School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, to the NFL, for nearly 40 minutes while wiping away tears.

“Thank you, Philadelphia,” Kelce said. “From the bottom of my heart. Thank you for letting me represent this city and allowing me into your homes every Sunday. It has truly been a privilege. You have all been so good to me and my family.”

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Kelce’s family, including his wife, Kylie, brother, Travis, mother, Donna, and father, Ed, sat in the front row of the auditorium. Among team personnel in attendance were head coach Nick Sirianni, general manager Howie Roseman, offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, plus former teammates including Connor Barwin and Brent Celek.

While seated at a table on the podium wearing a team-issued cutoff T-shirt and sweatpants, the veteran center attempted to begin his remarks, then paused for 40 seconds to quell his emotions.

“This is gonna be long,” Kelce warned.

Kelce spent the early portion of his speech detailing his beginnings as an undersized player and thanking the people who helped him along the way. That included a range of mentors such as his Cleveland Heights High School football, hockey, and lacrosse coaches, his high school band teacher, and his University of Cincinnati coaches.

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He recalled getting selected by the Eagles in the sixth round, No. 191 overall, in the 2011 draft. At the time, Kelce said that few teams had an interest in an offensive lineman who weighed 280 pounds. But the Eagles had recently hired a new offensive line coach in Howard Mudd, who placed a premium on athleticism over size in his players.

“Having watched and emulated Jeff Saturday in my own game, it all felt too perfect when the Eagles selected me in the sixth round,” Kelce said. “Immediately after being drafted, my agent Jason Bernstein said, ‘You have no idea how perfect this is. You are going to fit in great. You’re gonna fit in great in Philadelphia. This is your kind of town.’”

Kelce also expressed gratitude for the four Eagles head coaches he played for, including Sirianni, Doug Pederson, Chip Kelly, and Andy Reid, in addition to Roseman, Stoutland, owner Jeffrey Lurie — whose son, Julian, was in attendance — and his Eagles teammates.

Instead of listing every member of the organization who impacted his career, Kelce chose to share memories instead, including the calls that he and Travis got from Reid on their draft days and the simultaneous pain and pride experienced when losing to his brother and the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.

He also discussed one of the highlights of his career — the Super Bowl LII win in 2018 and the parade that ensued, which featured his notorious speech that he gave while donning a Mummers costume.

“I won’t forget the parade and what it meant to the city of Philadelphia,” Kelce said. “The joy it brought our community and the closure it gave to so many. The stories from fans that had been waiting generations for that moment fulfilled that triumph to another level.

“A speech that had written itself and one that symbolized what we had all lived as players, as a team and as a city. That wasn’t my speech. It was Philadelphia’s.”

Kelce reflected on the impact of his family on his growth, on and off the field. He acknowledged how early competition with his brother pushed him as a player, while his parents served as role models who instilled within him a hardworking mentality, calling himself a “product of [his] upbringing.”

“Few things gave me more joy than proving someone wrong,” Kelce said. “My mother used to tell people and still says to this day, ‘If you want Jason to do something, all you have to do is tell him he can’t.’ That was true in more ways than I care to admit.

“I relish doubters. They fuel the fire within. I suspect that comes from an upbringing where my parents would tell me, ‘Jason, you can do, you can be anything in this world you want to, as long as you put your mind to it to work hard to achieve it.’ ”

The decision to retire had been a long time coming for Kelce, who had signed one-year deals to return to the Eagles in the last two offseasons while mulling his future. He told The Inquirer at the AFC championship game in January that he wasn’t sure what was going to happen for him, but he wanted to be involved in the organization regardless of whether he decided to keep playing or not.

However, following the Eagles’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round, sources confirmed to The Inquirer that Kelce told teammates that he planned to retire.

The Eagles have been preparing for Kelce’s retirement from a team-building perspective since last offseason. Roseman selected offensive lineman Cam Jurgens in the second round, No. 51 overall, in the 2022 draft out of Nebraska as the heir apparent to Kelce.

Jurgens, 24, served as the starting center for three seasons at Nebraska. Upon making the transition to the NFL, Jurgens earned the starting right guard job out of training camp with Kelce returning for another season. With Kelce’s retirement, Jurgens could slide over to center, or the Eagles could identify another candidate via the draft or free agency and keep Jurgens at right guard.

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This season, Kelce broke Jon Runyan’s record of 144 consecutive regular-season starts (2000-08), amassing 156 of his own. Kelce played 193 regular-season games with the Eagles, ranking ahead of any offensive lineman in franchise history. Defensive end Brandon Graham holds the franchise record among all position groups with 195 games.

Throughout the last 13 seasons, Pro Football Focus attributes Kelce with conceding just 19 sacks on 7,944 career pass-blocking snaps. In 2023, Kelce was credited with allowing one sack, one hit, and 13 hurries. In each of those categories, Kelce ranked in the top 10 in the league among starting centers.

Kelce has a variety of paths he can explore in his post-playing career, from continuing his New Heights podcast with Travis to transitioning to the broadcast booth.

Although he said that he isn’t sure what his post-playing career will hold, Kelce added that he’s looking forward to the new challenges that await him, all while honoring his most recent accomplishment.

“Growing up in Cleveland, I watched all my favorite athletes leave the city,” Kelce said. “Hell, the whole team left the city. It has always been a goal of mine to play my whole career in one city. And I couldn’t have dreamt a better one and a better fit if I tried.”