“It’s been cool to see everyone appreciate who he’s been over the years this past week,” Travis, 34, said in a Kansas City Chiefs press conference on Friday, January 19. “I think the big guy’s still got some football left if he wants it.”
Travis noted that Jason’s possible retirement had been a hot topic following his brother’s emotional response to the Philadelphia Eagles’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday, January 15, which knocked the Birds out of the playoffs. After the heartbreaking defeat, reports surfaced that Jason, 36, told his teammates he was retiring but that wasn’t the case.
“It came out that he retired but he didn’t really say any of that,” Travis explained on Friday. “The end of that game I think everybody kind of felt for him knowing that he has been thinking about [retirement] a lot over the past couple of years. The documentary shows that, you don’t need to go around and ask anybody.”
Jason, for his part, cleared the air on the Wednesday, January 17, episode of his and Travis’ “New Heights” podcast about those retirement rumors.
“I didn’t announce what I was doing on purpose … but people can kind of feel body language and stuff,” Jason noted. “I just don’t think you’re in the position after a game like that to really make that decision, I just don’t. There’s too much emotion in the moment, there’s too much going down in the moment to really fully grasp that decision.”
The Eagles center explained that when he does decide to officially retire, he wants to do it on his own terms.
“It’s just something that I think when it’s time to officially announce what’s happening in the future, it’ll be done in a way that’s definitive and pays respect to a lot of people and individuals that have meant a lot to me and what has led to the career that I’ve had,” he explained. “I don’t think that it would be respectful or even accurate to be able to do that right after a game like that. … In the future, there’ll be something said, I guess.”
In addition to addressing his football future, Jason opened up about how “frustrating” it was for the Eagles season to end in an emotional way.
“I love everybody in that building, all the teammates, all those coaches, so much. You put a lot of hard work in, you really do, and when it doesn’t pan out … it’s a heck of a collapse,” Jason shared. “Started out 10-1 and finished losing six of our last seven games. … Rough way to finish her out this year.”
Travis admitted on the podcast it was “tough” to see his brother’s team end their season that way — especially as part of the Kelce family.
“I think everybody in the football world felt this one,” Travis said. “Clearly a lot of emotion at the end of this game for you guys, but I can attest for it because I was feeling it. I know Kylie, mom, dad, everybody that was at the game was feeling it. And I know all the friends and family that I got texts from … they were all feeling it, man.”
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