During a press conference on Monday, the Eagles’ star centre Jason Kelce announced he would be retiring from the NFL after 13 seasons.
Kelce, 36, was visibly emotional even before making the announcement at Philadelphia’s NovaCare Complex, often sobbing as he tried to compose himself. It took Kelce over a minute to begin reading a pre-prepared statement from his cellphone.
In his 45-minute speech, Kelce reflected on his football career, his family and what will inevitably become his widely celebrated legacy in the sport.
“I’ve been asked many times why did I choose football — what drew me to the game — and I never have an answer that gets it right,” Kelce reflected through tears.
He said his love for football is the same as what draws someone to their favourite song or book.
“It’s what it makes you feel. The seriousness of it. The intensity of it,” he revered.
After 13 NFL seasons, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce fights back tears during his retirement speech. pic.twitter.com/KY6TU9xuUd
As Kelce gave his emotional speech, his brother and Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce, sat front row alongside Kelce’s wife, Kylie, and their parents, Donna and Ed. Travis (who is also famously Taylor Swift’s boyfriend) wiped away tears as his older brother spoke.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was also present at the press conference.
Travis Kelce emotional during Jason Kelce’s retirement press conference.
A beautiful moment to see Jason’s family going through this with him. He is looking at them often throughout the speech #Eaglespic.twitter.com/ieIqxDRGt4
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) March 4, 2024
Kelce spoke at length about Travis, and said the siblings have always celebrated one another’s accomplishments, including their respective NFL drafts.
“We have a small family. No cousins, one aunt, one uncle. It was really my brother and I our whole lives,” Jason explained. “We did almost everything together — competed, fought, laughed, cried and learned from each other.”
He said he and Travis would often imagine themselves as the NFL’s “star players” during their childhood games.
“We won countless Super Bowls in our minds before ever leaving the house,” he reminisced.
The love of the game
Kelce has often been celebrated for his obvious, unfettered adoration for football and his Eagles team.
“Stepping on the field was the most alive and free I had ever felt,” Kelce sniffled, reflecting on how he developed his passion for football. “There was a visceral feeling with football, unlike any sport. The hairs on my arms would stand up. I could hit somebody, run around like a crazed lunatic and then get told, ‘Good job.’ I love football.”
Kelce said he “couldn’t have dreamt” of a better NFL team to play for than the Eagles.
“Although last season truly sucked, I wouldn’t trade my team with you or those teams for the world. Everything happens for a reason. And I truly enjoyed my time with you, coach,” Kelce said, directing attention to Sirianni.
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“Sometimes, the flowers get knocked back a bit, but the roots remain. And I can’t wait to watch as it re-blossoms next season,” he said.
The end of an era
For many Eagles fans, Kelce’s retirement comes as an emotional blow.
“It is difficult to put into words how much Jason Kelce has meant to everyone in this organization, to the City of Philadelphia, and to our fans,” Eagles Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie said in a lengthy statement.
“He gave everything he had to all of us for 13 years, and he did it in a way that was truly authentic. Jason was an incredible football player; a future Hall of Famer who would have been successful anywhere. But has there ever been a more perfect marriage between a player, a city, and a team?
“His intelligence and versatility, from starting as a rookie center in a lockout season to thriving under multiple coaches and offensive schemes, set him apart from others at his position,” Lurie continued. “The genuine love and care he showed his coaches, teammates, and staff endeared him to all he worked alongside. The passion and intensity that he poured into everything he did, both on and off the field, made a city fall in love.”
Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates on the field after defeating the New York Giants 38-7 in the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field on Jan. 21, 2023, in Philadelphia, Penn.
Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images
“He is a man of many talents – he could chug beers with fans at a tailgate, he could sing in a Christmas album and raise millions for charity, or he could talk X’s and O’s all day with coaches and teammates. Then after all of that, he could do things out on the football field that no other offensive linemen are capable of doing,” Lurie gushed.
“Although Jason is retiring from the NFL, I have no doubt that he will continue to be successful in everything he does, and his impact on our organization and this city will reverberate for many years to come,” Lurie concluded, adding that he personally wished Jason and his family the best.
Kelce’s announcement puts an end to speculation among NFL fans about whether the centre would play one final season in 2024.
During his 13-year career with the Eagles, Kelce and the team made six post-season appearances and played in two Super Bowls, including a Super Bowl LII win in 2018. Kelce was a sixth-round draft to the Eagles in 2011 and remained with the team through the entirety time in the NFL. Kelce is also a seven-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro selection.
He has played in 193 NFL games throughout his career.
ESPN reported Cam Jurgens, who was a second-round draft pick for the Eagles in 2022, is positioned to take over Kelce’s position on the team.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
