Jason Kelce revealed his decision to quit the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL had been on his mind for four consecutive seasons, but he carried on because he felt he still had something to offer at the top level of American Football.
The 36-year-old will transition to analysis instead as he prepares to adjust to life outside of the clubhouse and locker rooms, not being required to report to training for the first time in 13 long years.
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Kelce is regarded as one of the finest centers in NFL history and remained a competitive athlete throughout his career, which peaked with victory at Super Bowl LII, even though he felt a growing urge to bow out of the sport.
“I’ll be very honest, the last four years I’ve wanted to retire at the end of seasons,” Kelce told PEOPLE. “The reality is it’s really hard to get there.
“Even after we lost the Super Bowl [2023], I wanted to come back and play for another Super Bowl. But imagining another 17 games on top of playoffs and coming back was very difficult to envision being able to do.”
Kelce’s body took its toll
Quitting and stopping was something that he was mulling over since the 2020 season but the hunger and drive to try to claim one more ring kept him pushing on for an extra year, then one more, then one more…
But after resisting the urge to stop for some time, he finally accepted the seasons are too long for him to mentally, or physically, handle so he decided to call time on his career at the franchise he signed for in 2011.
“Those previous three years, I felt like I still had it in me,” Kelce added. “And [I] still wanted to and still could play at the level I felt I wanted to be able to play at and go out there and compete.
“And after stepping away this year, it just was more and more evident after the season that my body is telling me to stop. I don’t think I could play another season at the way I want to and the way that’s going to make me happy.
“If I’m being quite honest, even the last year at times, it wasn’t what I wanted, and part of that is because of where my body was at. So, all those things culminated into the decision.”