Eagles' Jason Kelce Enters 'Prime' Time with Release of Documentary
PHILADELPHIA - The documentary was supposed to be about Jason Kelce transitioning out of football, or to reduce it to only one word, 'retirement.'
“(That was) two years go,” said the Philadelphia Eagles center raising an eyebrow at something that he continues to keep at arm’s length.
That’s when Prime Video approached him about following Kelce around as he played out his final season. Except he’s still playing.
Nevertheless, there will still be a documentary, and, like the one word that has dogged him for the past two years, the documentary has a one-word name – ‘Kelce.’ The film premiers on Sept. 12 and is produced by 9.14 Pictures, Very Y Productions, and NFL Films. Former Eagles pass-rusher Connor Barwin is one of the executive producers.
“It (retirement) is something I obviously talked a lot about,” said Kelce. “I’ve seen a lot of guys go through it and every documentary up to this point on that has always been kind of retroactive, what happened after the fact and trying to put the pieces together looking back.
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“I thought it might be fun to go through that organically and to see what it’s like to transition out of the NFL from a health perspective, a financial perspective, touch on stories, things like that, and to just go through that on film.”
The documentary dives into Kelce’s life on and off the field, including the arrival of his third daughter and the debut of his popular podcast, ‘New Heights’ with his brother and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
On the field, of course, is the Eagles’ journey to the Super Bowl, and the journey to get there.
“I’m always learning about myself,” said Kelce. “I don’t think I learned anything about myself watching it. I think, you know, it’s very emotional for me. My family’s in it, my wife’s a big part of it, my brother’s a big part of it, my teammates, our coaches, the city’s a big part of it, so it strikes a chord with me very heavy.
"…it’s fun to kind of look back at that and have that documented even though it didn’t end with the best ending. It’ll still be fun.”
Kelce never retired and the project could have died there, but the producers reached out and said there was enough footage to do something.
“(They said) we think we have a film here if you want to make a film, whether you retire or not,” said Kelce. “At that point, I hadn’t really made a decision. We ended up having a good story on kind of what it’s like to go through an NFL season, all the different narratives that are happening, from the fans, the media, your coaches, you kind of get a good glimpse of what it’s like to be in the NFL from a lot of different perspectives.
“So, I think it’s great. I’m really proud of it and I’m excited to see it get up on Amazon and for people to enjoy it.
