Jason Kelce was overwhelmed by emotions as he watched his team, the Philadelphia Eagles, lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the final moments of the Monday, January 15, playoff game.
Kelce, who is the center for the Eagles, headed to the sidelines as the clock ticked down during the Monday Night Football program. He was spotted on the sidelines crying as he took off his helmet and the loss sank in. The Bucs beat the Eagles 32 to 9, knocking the Eagles out of the hunt for the Super Bowl next month.
“That looks like a man filled with emotion,” one of the ESPN broadcasters said as the cameras panned to Kelce, 36. “You wonder if that’s it for 36-year-old Jason Kelce.”
The athlete was visibly brought to tears as he talked with his offensive line coach, Jeff Stoutland, and looked up to the crowd. Jason’s wife, Kylie Kelce, appeared to be feeling her husband’s pain as she watched him walk up and down the field.
Kylie, 31, was spotted with her hands covering her mouth and hunched over in the stands, in a fan photo shared via X (formerly Twitter).
@nflleft it all on the field 💚 #jasonkelce #philadelphia #eagles #nfl #nflplayoffs
The couple’s melancholy reaction to the Eagles’ loss has some fans wondering if the rumors of Jason retiring are true.
Kylie revealed in 2023’s Prime Video documentary Kelce that Jason has been discussing retirement “for years,” telling the cameras, “I don’t think that people realize the beating you’re taking then impacts the way you interact with your family. … I always tell people, no matter what happens with football, how it ends, I would like him to retire when he is still able to get down on the floor and play with our kids comfortably.”
Kylie, who share daughters Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 2, and Bennett, 10 months, with her husband, noted, “I always am very quick to point out they’re compensated heavily, but it’s crazy as a 35-year-old man being in, like, a world of pain.”
Meanwhile, Jason, who was drafted into the NFL in 2011 and has won one Super Bowl championship, confessed in the documentary that it’s becoming “harder and harder to play.”
Ahead of Monday’s game, Jason told NBC Sports Philly that he was focused on the now. “You know, whenever you’re older in your career, you never know when that’s going to be. … My dad’s told me this from the moment I started playing football, you step off the curb [wrong] one day and, you know, that could be the end of your career,” he explained in January. “You try and approach every game with that mindset.”
The NFL star added: “Obviously, that’s not the main thing. The main thing is, you know, going out there and battling with each of the guys in this locker room. No matter how many more years I play or any of us play, this team right now only has one [guaranteed] game left, and that’s what we’re really focused on.”
While Jason’s future with the Eagles is undecided, his brother and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, revealed he has no plans to slow down. “I have no reason to stop playing football,” Travis, 34, told reporters on Thursday, January 11.
The Chiefs won on Saturday, January 13, against the Miami Dolphins. During the game, Travis’ girlfriend, Taylor Swift, was spotted dancing alongside his mom, Donna Kelce. Donna, 71, was then spotted at Jason’s matchup on Monday.
The Chiefs are set to face off against the Buffalo Bills in the NFL Divisional Round on Sunday, January 21, as they try to get back to the Super Bowl and defend their title.
