Super Bowl LVII's Outcome Won't Impact Jason Kelce's Decision on Retirement
PHILADELPHIA – It’s not a matter of if Eagles center Jason Kelce can still play, because, of course, he still can.
At 35, he is still playing at a ridiculously high level, was named to his fifth All-Pro team, and Super Bowl LVII will mark his 140th straight start. He is fifth in team history in most games played at 176, just behind leader David Akers, who played 188.
It’s a matter of whether he wants to keep playing.
For someone who is putting the wraps on his 12th season, it just isn’t as easy anymore to get his body ready in the few days between games, and there are 17 of those now.
While it’s true that practices have gotten easier with walkthroughs and rest days during the season, and the CBA has reduced time in pads during training camp, the wear and tear will eventually become too much.
So, too, will the pull of family life.
Kelce and his wife Kylie are expecting their third daughter any day now.
Kylie is so close to labor that a doctor will accompany her on her flight to Arizona and the Super Bowl on Friday.
Kelce has reached out to former teammate Zach Ertz about the baby doc he and his wife, Julie, used in Arizona when the couple gave birth to their son, Madden Matthew, on Aug. 11.
He has been addressing the issue of retirement since 2020 when he really gave it serious thought after coming out of a four-win season where head coach Doug Pederson lost his job and the supposed franchise quarterback, Carson Wentz, was sent packing to Indianapolis in a trade.
Jason Kelce on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023
Since then, he said, he hasn’t thought about it as much, though the Eagles have.
They drafted Cam Jurgens, his heir apparent, in the second round last spring. Of course, Landon Dickerson was believed to be the heir apparent when he arrived in the second round back in 2021, but he has since become a mainstay at left guard.
Perhaps Jurgens takes over at right guard if Kelce returns and Isaac Seumalo moves on in free agency.
Even in retirement, Kelce will still work in some capacity. Having three daughters, all of whom will be 3 years of age and younger after the new addition arrives, won't be cheap, after all.
Kelce has a podcast with his brother Travis that is widely listened to and enjoyed and he could probably have a gig on a sports talk radio show in a minute if he were to retire.
That is certainly a lot easier on the muscles and bones than it is to line up against, say, the New York Giants’ Dexter Lawrence or against Kansas City’s Chris Jones, who Kelce will see plenty of in Super Bowl LVII.
Kelce would also be welcomed into the coaching fraternity if he so desired. Heck, he already speaks and acts like a coach in the locker room, on the field, and in media sessions.
The offseason is a time for that sort of heavy reflection, and that offseason will begin on Feb. 13, the day after the Super Bowl.
Whether Kelce emerges from the big game a winner or a loser, he said, won’t impact whatever decision he makes.
"I don't think so,” he said on Friday. “From everyone I've been told about when you know when it's time to retire or not, you know when you know and it's gonna be when you don't want to play football anymore and I don't think that winning this game is going to determine whether I want to play football or not.”
He recalled a conversation with offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland about two years ago when he told Stoutland that he wasn’t sure if he would know when that time comes.
Stoutland told him he’ll know, the O-line coach telling him, “Trust me, you’ll know.”
Kelce said that former offensive line coach Howard Mudd gave him some retirement advice before Mudd passed away, telling the center, “When in doubt, don’t.”
“You can use that for anything, by the way, not just retirement,” said Kelce. “So, I think I don't know when that's going to happen.
“Obviously, I contemplate it every offseason at this point but I'm just going to appreciate the next week-and-a-half now with the guys in this room and all the coaches. Hopefully, put together another special game for the season."
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
