Jason Kelce’s former teammate, Jake Elliott says the former center has been in the Eagles building “almost every day” since retiring in March.
“It’s always gonna be impossible to replace guys like [Jason] Kelce and Fletcher [Cox], we’re definitely sad to see them go,” the Philadelphia Eagles kicker, 29, said during a Friday, May 10 episode of NFL Total Access. “The breadcrumbs that they left behind and the leadership roles that they’ve passed on to the other guys, you see little hints of them throughout the locker room now.”
He continued: “They’ve made a huge impact that’s gonna last a long time. Those guys aren’t gonna be far. I know Kelce has been in the building almost every day already. They’re always gonna be a big part of our organization.”
When Elliott was asked if there was a chance of Kelce, 36, coming out of retirement, he replied: “That’s not my deal, you can talk to Jason about that.”
Elliott and Kelce were teammates from 2017 to 2022. (Elliott was cut by the Cincinnati Bengals before being picked up by the Eagles.) Elliott and Kelce and their respective wives, Annie and Kylie, are good friends off the field too.
Earlier this month, Kelce opened up about the “next phase” of his career at ESPN during an episode of his “New Heights” podcast with Travis Kelce.
“Nothing’s been officially inked yet or announced yet,” Jason said at the time. “But obviously there’s been a lot of reports out there about me going to ESPN and I think time will kind of take care of that.”
The Athletic reported in April that Jason signed to be an on air talent for ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown alongside host Scott Van Pelt and analysts Ryan Clark and Marcus Spears.
During that period, the outlet reported that Kelce was being pursued to appear on sports shows by NBC, Prime Video and CBS.
Jason announced his retirement on March 4 during a press conference.
“Stepping on the field was the most alive and free I had ever felt,” Jason told the crowd. “There was a visceral feeling with football, unlike any sport. The hairs on my arms would stand up. I could hit somebody, run around like a crazed lunatic and then get told, ‘Good job.’ I love football.”
Jason, along with 25 other football players, attended the Broadcasting and Media Workshop to hone their craft in becoming studio analysts in April 2023.
“This is all new territory for me. I have even more respect for it now,” Jason told the Associated Press about the workshop. “It’s very hard to do something live, reactive of stimulus that just happened and having something clever and meaningful to say.”
