Jason Kelce has announced his retirement from football in an emotional press conference.
The Philadelphia Eagles legend broke down in tears before he even started speaking and finally put an end to months of speculation when he ended his career on Monday after 13 years in the NFL.
Kelce announced the decision with his brother Travis, wife Kylie and parents Ed and Donna present at the Eagles team facility. Footage showed Travis crying as he watched.
The 36-year-old told the story of his football career, from playing at Cleveland Heights High School to the University of Cincinnati and then being drafted by the Eagles.
An emotional Kelce struggled to get his words out, pausing regularly for long periods and his voice breaking as he tried to hold back tears.
Jason Kelce has announced his retirement from football in an emotional press conference
Travis began to cry as he watched his brother speak, sitting next to his parents.
The Kelce brothers are two of the biggest stars in the NFL thanks to their podcast New Heights
Jason, 36, pictured with his wife, Kylie, and their three young children.
Speculation first arose that Kelce would hang up his cleats when the Eagles were eliminated from the playoffs by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January.
However, he declined to announce a final decision about his future in the following weeks, instead supporting his brother Travis throughout the postseason when the Kansas City Chiefs finally won the Super Bowl.
Kelce was on the verge of retiring this time last year, but decided to stay on for one more season after struggling to walk away, a process that was captured in his hit Amazon Prime documentary.
Kelce was drafted by the Eagles in 2011 and has enjoyed a sensational 13-year career in Philadelphia.
Selected seven times to the Pro Bowl, the center won the Super Bowl with the Eagles in 2018 when they beat the New England Patriots in Minnesota.
The center, who hosts the hit ‘New Heights’ podcast with his brother Travis and participated in Amazon’s Thursday Night Football broadcast during his bye week this season, appears destined for a career in broadcasting if he so desires.
He has already met with executives from Fox and ESPN, according to Reception sportswhile he took advantage of the Super Bowl week in Las Vegas to ‘do the rounds’ with the networks.
Kelce celebrates winning the Super Bowl with the Eagles in 2018
Sun He also reported that there was already a “fight” between several stations to acquire Kelce’s services, and that he could earn up to $5 million a year for his football analysis.
Despite the lucrative offers apparently awaiting Kelce, he recently admitted to being anxious about what life after football will be like.
“It’s exciting to think about the possibilities, it’s exciting to be able to lose weight, feel good and not have to physically fight for my life every day,” Kelce, 36, said. ‘It’s also discouraging. It’s anxiety. At the end of the day, it’s the unknown.
“People ask if you get nervous about games, but the only games I get nervous about are the first ones; you don’t know what’s coming.” Ironically, it makes you play better, it brings your senses to life. But that’s where you are when you start thinking about retirement.
‘The possibilities are exciting. We were all lucky, we can go to many different areas. But that’s also very stressful, you don’t know what you’re going to like until you do it. You don’t know what you’re going to be satisfied with until you do it, you don’t know what you’re going to be excellent at until you do it.
‘All that stuff is in the back of your head too. No matter how you handle it, no matter who you are, how well prepared you are to move on to the next stage, everyone actually goes through a level of depression.
‘The end of one of the things you love most in your life is there and you will have to face it.
‘You may be struggling and not know it. I feel like you can be struggling in football but you get that victory, that little shot, the dopamine, like “I’ve got this.” I’m a big ‘hitman.’
More to follow.