Jason Kelce spent 13 years playing center for the Philadelphia Eagles.
But Kelce called it quits back in March.
And Jason Kelce retired from the NFL, and you won’t believe what he’s doing next.
Jason Kelce to join ESPN’s Monday Night Football pregame show
Since the season ended and his retirement announcement, Jason Kelce is living his best life.
A shirtless Kelce chugging beers in a luxury box next to Taylor Swift as he rooted on his brother Travis’ Kansas City Chiefs to their third Super Bowl title became an indelible image of this year’s NFL playoffs.
In April, Kelce participated at Wrestlemania in Philadelphia, where he got physically involved in a match.
Now Kelce is on to his next gig, where he will join the crew of ESPN’s Monday Night Football pregame show, according to an exclusive report by The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand.
“The recently retired Jason Kelce is headed to ESPN to be part of its Monday Night Football pregame show, sources briefed on the move told The Athletic,” Marchand wrote.
“Kelce, who just retired after what is considered a Hall of Fame career with the Philadelphia Eagles, was sought after by multiple networks, but is slated to land on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown,” Marchand added.
Thanks to his larger-than-life Fred Flinstone-like persona, Kelce was the most sought after commodity in the broadcasting game.
Last year, Kelce attended the NFL broadcaster bootcamp, which the League puts on to help introduce players to a common post-career path.
It was only a matter of which network would sign Kelce, and ESPN won the honors.
Why Kelce retired
After announcing his retirement, the 35-year-old Kelce explained to Fox Sports that he based his decision on the fact that he didn’t want to put his body through the grind of another football season.
“The physical portion is at a point that it’s not a desire to continue to do,” Kecle stated. “The reality was, it was more firm than it’s ever been this year that I just don’t think physically, I can compete at the level I want to anymore, and really compete the way I want to. My elbow, a little of my knees, it’s just gotten to the point where the deterioration and the recovery from that deterioration hasn’t really manifested on game day yet, but I know it’s going to start doing that. I’m hard on myself, and if I go out there and I’m not the player I want to be, it will crush me.”
“I feel very confident in the decision that I made. I know that it’s time. I had a really good run,” Kelce added.
Fans always prefer to see their heroes retire before age inevitably turns them into shells of their former selves.
The most common example is the regret many baseball fans have of watching Hall of Famer Willie Mays trip over balls in the outfield when he hung on too long and played a forgettable 1973 season with the New York Mets.
Jason Kelce avoided that fate and will now embark on his new career as a NFL analyst.
