Following a 10-1 start to the 2023 NFL season, the Philadelphia Eagles lost five of their last six regular-season games, thus losing the NFC East to the Dallas Cowboys and forcing them to hit the road for the Wild Card Round.
The losses continued Monday night as Nick Sirianni’s squad was trounced by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 32-9. But not only did the loss mark the end of the Eagles’ season, but also the end of Jason Kelce‘s career.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Kelce, who contemplated retirement a year ago and played this season on a one-year contract, told his teammates in the locker room after the game that he is indeed ready to hang up his cleats.
Six-time All-Pro and future Hall-of-Fame center Jason Kelce told his Eagles’ teammates in Monday night’s postgame locker room that he is in fact retiring, per league sources.
The 36-year-old Kelce became visibly emotional at the end of the Eagles’ 32-9 loss to the Buccaneers. He… pic.twitter.com/GofAAlFtUd
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 16, 2024
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who completed 25 of 35 passes for 250 yards in the loss despite playing with an injured middle finger on his throwing hand, was one of the first to comment on Kelce’s decision:
“He’s a legend in the city — really in the league,” Hurts said. “I don’t want to do a disservice to him and the things he’s been able to do and overcome. His journey to where he is now didn’t come easy. It’s been a long, long time coming for him, and every year since I’ve been here, it’s been, ‘Are you going to come back?’
"He's a legend… He'll forever have a special place in my heart."
– Jalen Hurts on the love he has for Jason Kelce pic.twitter.com/dhIxhOTJHn
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 16, 2024
“But he knows how much I love and appreciate him,” Hurts continued. “He knows how much I’ve learned from him. He’ll forever have a special place in my heart.”
Jason Kelce Was Visibly Emotional Following the Eagles’ Loss
While the Eagles easily took care of business against the Buccaneers back in Week 3 with a 25-11 victory, Monday night was a different story.
Tampa Bay, who went the opposite route of Philadelphia and won five of six to end the regular season, rode a big night from Baker Mayfield, who became the first quarterback in Buccaneers history to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a playoff game.
As the clock wound down with the outcome no longer in doubt, Kelce was shown several times on the sidelines during the ABC/ESPN broadcast, and the 36-year-old was visibly emotional.
Once the game officially ended, he took his time leaving the field at Raymond James Stadium and shook hands with several fans, both of the Eagles and Bucs, when he finally made his way to the locker room.
Kelce Retires as One of the Greatest Centers in NFL History
Selected in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Cincinnati with the 191st overall pick, Kelce spent his entire 13-year career in Philadelphia, a career that will undoubtedly be recognized with induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
A seven-time Pro Bowler, Kelce was also just the fifth center in NFL history to notch at least six All-Pro selections, joining Jim Otto, Bulldog Turner, Dermontti Dawson, and Jim Ringo, all of whom are in the Hall of Fame.
Fellow Eagles lineman Lane Johnson, who says Kelce had “hinted” that the 2023 campaign would be his last, called his longtime teammate the best ever to play his position.
“I love him. He’s one of the best to ever play the game,” Johnson said. “The things he can do on the football field athletically — I don’t think we’ll see another one like him for a long time.”
Kelce was one of the key components in helping the Eagles to two Super Bowl appearances in the last seven seasons, defeating the New England Patriots following the 2017 campaign and losing to brother Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs a year ago.
