After retiring as a center for the Philadelphia Eagles following a thirteen year NFL career, Jason Kelce is reportedly preparing to sign a deal with ESPN to begin his broadcasting career on “Monday Night Countdown.”
Kelce To Sign With ESPN
Though ESPN has yet to confirm Kelce’s hiring at the time of this writing, he’s reportedly in line to sign a deal with the network for the next NFL season.
Kelce began dipping his foot into NFL broadcasting last season, when he had a stint with Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” during an off week in 2023. He also took part in last year’s NFL Broadcasting and Media Workshop, which was previously known as the Broadcast Bootcamp.
“This is all new territory for me,” Kelce said at the time. “I have even more respect for it now. It’s very hard to do something live, reactive of stimulus that just happened and having something clever and meaningful to say.”
The New York Post reported that Kelce had a hugely successful NFL career that saw him become a seven-time Pro Bowler and a six-time All-Pro. He also played a crucial role in the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory back in 2018.
Related: Jason Kelce Lost His Super Bowl Ring In The Most Jason Kelce Way Possible
Kelce Retires
Last month, Kelce opened up about why he decided that it was time to retire after the last NFL season.
“Obviously I’ve debated retiring the last few seasons,” Kelce said on his New Heights podcast.
“I think it got to the point where I knew that was what I wanted to do and it was nerve-racking getting to that day,” he continued. “But a lot of the things that I said and shared are things I’ve wanted to share for a long time and you wait until the moment where it feels right to do it.”
Kelce went on to say that he also felt that he was physically starting to break down.
“The reality was, it was more firm than it’s ever been this year that I don’t think physically I can compete at the level that I want to anymore and really compete the way I want to,” said Kelce, 36. “My elbow and my knees. It’s just gotten to the point where the deterioration and the recovery and that deterioration really hasn’t manifested on game day yet.”
“But I know it’s going to start doing that and I’d really rather not — I’m hard on myself and if I got out there and I’m not the player I want to be, it’ll crush me,” he added. “I feel very confident in the decision I made. I know it’s time. I’ve had a really good run but that’s the biggest reason why.”
Related: Jason Kelce Personally Called Combat Veteran To Help With His PTSD: Report
Kelce’s Brother
Of course, there’s a whole lot of interest in the Kelce family right now, as Kelce’s younger brother Travis, 34, is currently dating the singer Taylor Swift.
Travis is set to continue his NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs next season, and he will also be hosting the game show “Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity?”
Kelce was one of the most talented NFL stars in recent years, so his ESPN commentary will undoubtedly be fascinating to listen to. It will certainly be interesting to see where his NFL broadcasting career takes him!