According to Jason Kelce, all decisions regarding his future will be made on his terms. On his New Heights podcast, Kelce explained that he was only being sentimental in response to rumours that he had informed his Philadelphia Eagles colleagues that he was retiring. However, one of the aforementioned teammates believes the seasoned centre might be finished.
On John Clark’s ART19/Amazon podcast Takeoff during Super Bowl LVIII, left tackle Jordan Mailata stated that since the Eagles’ Wild Card Round loss, Kelce had too much fun to be able to physically, mentally, and psychologically recondition himself to play football:
“There’s not a shot! Are you saying that even though he’s gambling in the casinos and losing everything at the game, he will still return? Not in a manner. It’s too much pleasure for him.”
Radio host for the Eagles wants Jason Kelce to retire.
Not just Mailata is urging his fellow linemen to hang up his cleats. Similar ideas were expressed by Merrill Reese, the radio play-by-play announcer for the Eagles.
Merrill expressed his profound concern for the one-time Super Bowl winner and multiple All-Pro and Pro Bowler, Kelce, telling Ike Reese and Jack Fritz on 94WIP Afternoons that he is a “very special individual”:
“You can only withstand so much beating before it starts to cause issues down the road. You know what he goes through to prepare for every game; he’s been hit quite hard. And you know how frequently you assume he’s out of the game when he leaves one? He then returns the team to the pitch during halftime.”He has suffered greatly over the past 13 years, and I believe it is time for him to retire for the sake of his own health and well-being going forward.”If the Jason Kelce era does come to an end, head coach Nick Sirianni is prepared with a replacement.
After evaluating several college centres over the previous few years, the veteran centre was ecstatic to see Cam Jurgens taken 51st overall by the Eagles out of Nebraska in 2022, referring to him as “my favourite player in the draft”.
Jurgens entered Philadelphia’s starting lineup in 2023 as a right guard, taking Isaac Seumalo’s place after the latter left for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jurgens had previously played as a backup during his rookie season. Due to a foot ailment, he missed six games.
