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Philadelphia Eagles Center Jason Kelce withdraws from the NFLthe 36-year-old announced in an emotional press conference on Monday.
Likely a future member of the American Football Hall of Fame, Kelce is a seven-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro selection. He spent his entire 13-season NFL career with the Eagles, including the team’s 2018 Super Bowl victory.
During a long press conference of about 40 minutes, Kelce broke down in tears numerous times while explaining what football has meant to him during his childhood and professional career.
“I’ve been asked many times why I chose football, what attracted me to it, and I never have a right answer,” he said.
“The best way to explain it is what attracts you to your favorite song, your favorite book. It’s what it makes you feel: its seriousness, its intensity. Entering the field was the most alive and free I had ever felt.”
Following the Eagles’ 32-9 playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January, was reported Kelce had told his teammates that he was retiring.
However, he declined to make his retirement official, raising the question of whether he might return for one final year with the Eagles.
But on Monday, he tearfully announced the end of his playing career at a news conference attended by his family and Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni.
“Getting here took a lot of hard work and determination,” Kelce said. “I’ve been the underdog my entire career and I mean it, I wish I could still be that way. Few things gave me more joy than proving someone wrong.”
During the announcement, Kelce paid tribute to, among others, his former coaches and teammates, Philadelphia fans and his family, particularly his brother.
Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
Jason Kelce spent his entire 13-season NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles, including the team’s 2018 Super Bowl victory.
In 2023, Kelce’s Eagles came up short in Super Bowl LVII against the Kansas City Chiefs and his younger brother Travis, the first time two brothers played against each other in a Super Bowl.
“There is no chance I would be here without the bond that Travis and I share,” Kelce said. “He made me stronger, tougher, smarter and he taught me the values of cooperation, loyalty, patience and understanding.
“It is too poetic that I found my career fulfilled in the City of Brotherly Love. “I knew that relationship very well.”
in a statement On Monday, Eagles president and CEO Jeffrey Lurie said it’s “hard to put into words how much Jason Kelce has meant” to the organization, the city and the fans.
“He gave us everything he had for 13 years, and he did it in a truly authentic way,” Lurie added.
“Jason was an incredible football player; a future Hall of Famer who would have succeeded anywhere. But has there ever been a more perfect marriage between a player, a city and a team?
CNN’s Thomas Schlachter contributed to this report.