Jason Kelce is going to go down as one of the greatest Philadelphia Eagles players of all time, and arguably the greatest player at his position in NFL history. He also isn’t ready to commit to retirement just yet.
Despite an ESPN report — that the 36-year-old center told Eagles teammates in the locker room that he is retiring following Philly’s NFC wild-card loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night — Kelce admitted on his “New Heights” podcast he isn’t ready to go down that road just yet.
“I just don’t think you’re in a position after a game like that to really make that decision,” Kelce said to brother Travis Kelce. “There’s too much emotion in the moment.
“When it’s time to officially announce what’s happening in the future, it’ll be done in a way that’s definitive.”
Retirement has been on the mind of Kelce over the last few seasons, but he seemed to hang on to try and win what would’ve been his second Super Bowl title with the franchise. However, his NFL story might be coming to a close after a 32-9 loss in Tampa, which capped off a late-season collapse by the Eagles, who lost six of their last seven games after a 10-1 start.
Indications that this may have been Kelce’s final game in the NFL came in the closing seconds of the loss to the Bucs. He was emotional on the sideline, and this exchange with Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland may have said it all. (Kelce declined to speak with reporters after the game.)
“I think it’s been natural the last three seasons for that for me,” Kelce said Friday. “Whenever you’re older in your career, you never know when that’s going to be.
“I try to remind guys and my dad has told me this from the moment I started playing football — you step off the curb one day and that could be the end of your career. So you try to approach every game with that mindset, but obviously the closer and the older you get to that…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/eagles-jason-kelce-wont-commit-to-retirement-despite-report-he-told-teammates-following-playoff-loss-to-bucs/
Author : Jeff Kerr
Publish date : 2024-01-17 15:43:03
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