Jason Kelce is considered to be one of the greatest centers in NFL history.
The Super Bowl champion, six-time First-Team All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowl player signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011 and remained an Eagle until he retired in 2024.
Following his retirement, Kelce has ventured into broadcasting, focusing on supporting his family and building the stepping stones to his next achievements.
Jason Kelce on family
The Kelces have become a household name alongside his three-time Super Bowl-winning brother, Travis Kelce, and his wife, Kylie Kelce, with whom he shares four daughters: Wyatt, Elliotte, Bennett and Finnley.
The proud girl dad shared how being a father has changed his perspective on life.
“There's no question I am becoming a better person,” Kelce exclusively shared with AllSportsPeople during his Slow Burn fragrance launch with Kingsford.
He shared that having his wife and four daughters in the house is a different dynamic than when he and Travis were growing up.
“I think that there's a lot of testosterone and masculinity in our house growing up. My mom dealt with a lot. I don't know how she made it through,” he says of his mother, Donna Kelce, who has also been thrust into the spotlight with her multiple endeavors.
Jason Kelce poses for a photo with Kylie Kelce during the Kelce documentary premiere at Suzanne Roberts Theater on September 8, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
The Super Bowl champion explained how everything shifted for him once he got married and started having children, and how it impacted his career.
“Being a parent in general brings out a nurturing side and a much softer side, probably of most people. But, I do think having daughters has magnified that,” he said.
“Before you're married or before you have kids, football is your number one priority. It's the only thing that you really are focused on, and that has significant advantages if you want to be a great football player. That was a lot of my career,” Kelce says, who got married to Kylie in 2018 and welcomed their first daughter, Wyatt, in 2019.
“The moment you're married to somebody, it really sets what is most important in your life now shifts, and the more you have kids, that shifts again.”
Kelce explained how being a father and a husband has impacted him individually, but more importantly, what it represents to him now.
“I think you learn about patience. I'm not just going out and doing something and representing myself. I'm representing the people I love and setting an example for the children that I'm raising. So I think that it's much more, much less about your own selfish desires or what you want and more about we now have this separate team of individuals that is really the team and at all times you're trying to operate in the self-interest and in the best interests of everyone today.”
Jason Kelce on his most defining moment in NFL career
When you’re a Super Bowl champion, six-time First-Team All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowl player, there’s several moments that can make — and break — your career. It could be the moment that you’re called in for the NFL Draft, a memorable play, a devastating injury.
For Kelce, it was neither of the above moments that solidified his defining moment — it was making history.
Kelce was a part of the 2018 team that won the Super Bowl for the Eagles, the first time that the franchise held a Lombardi Trophy. After the Eagles defeated the New England Patriots, 41-33, Kelce gave an iconic speech at the parade on the Art Museum steps that still resonates with Eagles fans today, as well as the former Eagles center.
“I mean, probably the Super Bowl speech,” Kelce shared when asked what was his most defining moment in the NFL. “I think that's the one that most Philadelphians recognize, and that's the moment that probably gets brought up the most to me.
“I think that that was a defining season for a lot of my teammates and guys that I played a long time with, and it all kind of culminates in one game in one moment,” he continued. “That celebration is kind of an unleashing of a lot of energy and emotions that people carry with them and then on top of that, it being the first Super Bowl in Philadelphia Eagles history. The fans were equally releasing some emotions and joy, so I think that's probably the most defining moment.”
Jason Kelce on post-retirement media career and fragrance launch
Kelce is one year post-retirement, and he has not slowed down by any means.
From his multiple award-winning New Heights podcast that he co-hosts with Travis to being an analyst for ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown, he has now started a new venture with his Slow Burn fragrance via his partnership with Kingsford.
“I've never been interested in being in the fragrance game. Not one bit, but charcoal, I can get behind,” the former Eagles center explained. “There is something with charcoal in particular that I really think about vivid memories, objects, people, places, and as opposed to a lot of fragrances. I was just like, ‘Oh, this smells good or bad.’ This one is really usually tied to very specific things for people, which is fun.”
The cologne includes notes of charred hardwood, fire ember, carbon clove, sawdust and powder smolder while casting the iconic smoky aroma of wood-fired charcoal. It’s exclusively at Kingsford.com — but only while supplies last.
As for his work with ESPN, Kelce describes working alongside his fellow analysts as comparable to locker room antics at times.
“I'm in a great group on a great desk and that's very much like a team with me. Swag, RC, Scott Van Pelt and even ESPN itself because of the producers and everybody there like the locker room, and there's like a different level of visceral-ness to it because of the sport and physically competing that I think really makes it alive,” he explained.
What’s next for Jason Kelce?
Kelce has a lot of professional avenues that take up his time in addition to caring for his family, but for right now, he is plugged in on his new fragrance.
“We're releasing Slow Burn by Kingsford. It’s $30.62, which is a very fun price,” Kelce said, referencing his No. 62 jersey number in the price.
When it comes to the future outside of his fragrance plans, Kelce chooses to take one step at a time and not to plan too far ahead. He shared that the mentality stemmed from playing in the NFL to take each week as a new beginning and a hurdle to get past to make it to the Super Bowl.
“I try not to look too far in advance and part of that's like how his condition is as a player. We just say one week at a time. Like, here we go. What do you think? You'll be in the Super Bowl? It's like I'm just trying to win week seven right now. We'll figure that later,” he says.
That mindset has stuck with him throughout his retirement as well.
“I think I approach a lot of my career now similar to that. Are there goals that are things that you're thinking about? Yes, but I don't get too far into this right now,” he continues.
“I'm just trying to watch the games this week and do Monday Night Countdown, trying to get with my brother to have a great podcast episode and enjoy doing that.”
More lifestyle news:
- Jason Kelce plays on nostalgia in new fragrance venture
- Jason Kelce reveals who would be a dream guest on New Heights podcast
- Jason Kelce reveals who would be a dream guest on New Heights podcast
- Jason Kelce reveals the one celebrity that had him 'starstruck'