It's not often a center retiring can dominant the NFL news cycle, but that just speaks to both the player and the person that Jason Kelce is. After 13 years in Philadelphia, Kelce announced his retirement on Monday from the NFL. The Eagles legend, along with his brother Travis, released a new episode of their "New Heights" podcast on Wednesday and Jason's decision was, understandably, a topic.
One of the most heartfelt moments came when the younger Kelce discussed what his older brother's career meant to him:
Here's a transcription of the clip:
Travis: We did not talk about much of your retirement and I wanted to make sure that you didn't feel any pressure from me to keep going knowing I wanted you to keep going. I wanted you to keep playing this game.
Jason: Why didn't you tell me this? I would've changed my mind?
Travis: No, no, no. You've always been a step ahead of me...
Jason: I'm older, Trav.
Travis: ...In this game. Yeah, but it's in this game alone. You've been a step ahead of me and it's always been like I've had that flotation device right there. To have you out of it, man, it feels, it feels empty. And it definitely feels like it's complete, you know?
[fighting back tears] It was a fun *ss journey to watch. And like I said, yesterday, man, I just appreciate you showing me the way and bringing us all the journey with you, big guy.
Jason: We showed each other the way. You've been playing for a long time on your own and I look forward to being able to appreciate and watch your games more and take in the bigger picture of football and everything that it has to offer.
Travis: Well, it was just cool being the tag team of the National Football League, man. Pretty cool s**t.
The full episode is available here:
MORE: Kelce reached true superstardom
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