The first word I ever learned how to spell was Eagles. One of the earliest memories I have is dancing around in the living room with my Mom-mom and Pop-pop, singing “Fly, Eagles Fly” over and over again until one of us couldn’t take it anymore. Many of my childhood memories are tied to starting lineups and coaching changes. When you grow up in Philadelphia, the Eagles are always right there, growing up with you.
Jason Kelce has been playing for the Philadelphia Eagles since I was seven years old. He’s a household name in the area, a face of the team. When it was first rumored that Jason Kelce, a Philadelphia legend, would be retiring, the city’s atmosphere changed. The morning after we lost to the Buccaneers in the wild card round, every news channel had highlight reels and photos of Kelce, with somber music playing in the background. If you didn’t know who Jason Kelce was, you would’ve thought he’d died.
“No one celebrates their own like the City of Philadelphia.” In Kelce’s 41-minute long speech, he walked us through his entire football career, starting at 12 years old, all the way up to the present. Kelce made it clear from the beginning of the press conference that he had a lot of people to thank for his success, so much so that he would not be able to name everyone personally, or else the speech would take a week.
“There are so many teammates, coaches, support staff, trainers, equipment, cafeteria workers, you guys have no idea the amount of people in this building it takes to assist our players and me,” Kelce said in his speech. “I would like to thank you all by name, but we’d be here far too long for anyone to continue listening, so instead, I will share memories, if that’s alright with you all.”
The memories Kelce shared moved so many, myself included, to tears. It was emotional hearing him speak so fondly of Philadelphia, his teammates and coaches, and, above all, the fans. “Yes, [the fans] will let you know when you are not performing well, every time, but they will also love you if you show effort, aggression, desire, [and] the will to fight. They will love you in this city if you love it the way you love your brother. You will be loved by going above and beyond to show that you care because they care,” Kelce explains. “They’ve been caring for generations in this town about this team and they aren’t about to accept a bunch of excuses and…nonsense representing the name of the front of the jersey, something they’ve invested their entire lives in.”
Kelce’s retirement speech was emotional, humorous, and, above all, memorable. it brought me back to 2018, watching him address the masses of fans that swarmed Broad Street in his iconic mummer’s suit. The city will miss watching him every Sunday, hearing his name on ESPN, and seeing the number 62 on the back of jerseys all around the city. Kelce’s legacy in Philadelphia is one that’ll go on to be told for the rest of time, and I can’t wait to watch him be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the greatest center in the NFL one day.
Go Birds.
Full transcript of Kelce’s retirement speech here.