Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce’s retirement rumors have been floating around for a few years now. However, after the conclusion of the 2023 season for the Iggles in the Wild Card Round, fans knew deep in their hearts that it was finally over. A few weeks later, the seven-time Pro Bowler center announced in an emotional 45-minute speech that he was calling it quits. The speech was filled with Kelce teary-eyed thanking every wellwisher in his life, who paved the way for him — from the cafeteria workers to his family members, Jason expressed gratitude to one and all.
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One of the talking points of his speech which has become a point of debate is Kelce claiming himself to be a “vastly overrated” player. The Eagles star implied that the moment he retires, in the fans’ perceptions, he will become overrated. Kelce reasoned that he was always an underdog who punched above his weight consistently and cherished doing that.
“Today, I must admit. I am officially overrated,” Kelce said. “Vastly overrated. But f**k, it took a lot of hard work and determination getting here. I’ve been the underdog my entire career, and I mean this when I say this: I wish I still was. Few things gave me more joy than proving someone wrong.”
While we get that recency bias is a huge factor in clouding people’s judgments, one closer look at Kelce’s achievements and it can be deduced that Jason is anything but overrated. For starters, the Philadelphia Eagles star has been six times named first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press. Jason has also made it to the Pro Bowl team seven times, capping it off with a solitary Super Bowl win in 2018. Just these statistics make Kelce the only center in the NFL to achieve all these accolades.
With this alone, he is a sure-shot Hall of Famer. But the beauty lies in the details. His 6 All Pro inclusions have come past the age of 30, making it the most ever by a player in his 30s. Despite having a career slump in the mid-20s, Kelce punched above the odds, and achieving this is simply magnanimous. He also holds the record with Dwight Stephenson for being the only two players in the Super Bowl era to earn 3 back-to-back All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections in their final three seasons.
But how does Kelce rank when compared to the center’s? If seen through the measuring tool by Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value (AV) tool, Kelce has the second highest AV (132 AV) for a center with less than 200 games played. As per the metric, Kelce overall ranks seventh after legendary centers like Jim Otto (163AV), Mike Webster (161 AV), Jeff Saturday (156 AV), Mick Tinglehoff (152 AV), Kevin Mawae (140 AV), and Tom Nalen (133 AV).
Safe to say, Kelce has been an absolute legend of the game and has been an equally good ambassador off the field. Be it his fun-loving persona we see on the New Heights podcast with brother Travis; or all the philanthropy he does for the citizens of Philadelphia, Jason Kelce has carved a place for himself in every football fan’s heart. Thus, seeing him cry and retire feels personal to us.
Jason Kelce’s Retirement Speech Leaves the NFL World in Tears
In the 13-year-old NFL career of Jason Kelce, there has not been a single bout where he hasn’t given his utmost commitment. Yes, performances ebbed and flowed, but he always maintained an insatiable hunger in him to not falter despite the tide against him. In his retirement speech, he thanked every single human being who helped him achieve this mentality throughout his NFL career.
From his parents for nurturing his dreams to his brother Travis for training and supporting him from childhood; Jason displayed the utmost humility. He also showed gratitude towards the city of Philadelphia for treating him like their own and forging a bond with him that he would enjoy for a lifetime.
While he didn’t explicitly reveal the reason for his retirement, his overrated comment does signify that he believes he doesn’t have it in him anymore to punch above the weight with the same rigor. Moreover, he would be the last person to want to be a deadweight for his beloved franchise. Lastly, Kelce also revealed that he always dreamed of playing for one city throughout his life. So a move to another team is also out of the question.
Considering all these factors, it makes sense why Jason has decided to hang up his cleats. However, we, as fans, sincerely disagree with him for calling himself overrated. He has been an absolute ambassador of the game on and off the field. As proved above, his stats on the field make him an all-time great. And with the image that Kelce has created in all our hearts with his off-field work, he will always be an absolute superstar for us!
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