Jason Kelce has moved to definitively end claims he could unretire and return to NFL – and there is one very simple reason stopping him.
Kelce wept as he announced he was quitting football earlier this year but has remained a regular at the Eagles facility in Philadelphia so far, prompting suggestions he could come back to the game he loves.
But the 36-year-old has revealed it is not possible due to how much weight he has already lost, even if he ever did have a major change of heart.
Speaking to Associated Press, Kelce said he has already dropped 20 pounds since his last game for the Eagles in January and overall, he wants to go down from 295 pounds to 260.
‘They’re not going to call me to come back and play center at 260 pounds, and I’m moving on to the next thing,’ Kelce said – before throwing his support behind his replacement in Philly, Cam Jurgens.
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Jason Kelce has insisted that he is done with football after retiring earlier this year
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Kelce, pictured with wife Kylie, says his weight loss means an NFL return won’t happen
‘I’m excited to watch Cam. I really think Cam is going to be tremendous this year. He’s going to really show people how great of a player he is. He was good for us last year at right guard and he’s going to flourish at center.
‘And for me personally, my days of playing are just done and I do not foresee any scenario taking place other than maybe medicine inventing a way to get rid of arthritis that I would ever entertain coming back at all anymore.’
But while Kelce’s 13 years in the NFL are done, he is embarking on a new career in television with ESPN and their Monday Night Football coverage.
The first one up sees Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets head to California to place the San Francisco 49ers – who lost last year’s Super Bowl to Kelce’s brother Travis and the Kansas City Chiefs.
On Week 2, Kelce will call an Eagles game when they host Atlanta Falcons.
But Week 5 is one of the early standouts when Jason heads to Kansas City to call his brother in action against New Orleans Saints at Arrowhead Stadium.
Even as Kelce gears up for his new role, he has been such a regular at the Eagles facility to use their gym that his old teammates are jokingly mocking him for hanging around.
‘He just won’t go home, man,’ Landon Dickerson told CBS about Kelce. ‘I’m kidding. It’s great to have him around.
‘He’s obviously loved around this building by every single person. He’s always welcome out here with Kylie (wife Kylie Kelce) and his kids.
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in his new role at ESPN, Jason is set to call games his younger brother Travis will be playing in
‘Having him around as a resource to ask questions to as a guy who’s done it for so long at such levels successfully, he’s always a great resource to have because I think he’s the best to ever do it.’
Kelce isn’t the only NFL hero embarking on a new television career this season – Tom Brady does too, with FOX.
But even though Brady once famously walked back his decision to call it a day, it looks like TV is as far as the similarities will go with Kelce this year.
