It appears that Jason Kelce's NFL future is still up in the air.
Following the Philadelphia Eagles' Wild Card Round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Kelce would retire after 13 seasons in the NFL. This received some pushback, and he detailed his process during his appearance The Big Podcast with Shaq.
“I think if I still want to play, I'll play,” Kelce said at the 2:48 mark. “I think now [I’m] Not far enough away from the last game… It's emotional, it's a long season, the end of the season is frankly terrible. So I'll take some time, relax, flip, and then figure it out. “I think I'll get an answer in the next few weeks.”
Kelce has earned numerous accolades in his career, including seven Pro Bowl selections, six All-Pro honors and a Super Bowl LII victory. He has been a key contributor to the Eagles' run-heavy offense that has been a dominant force in the NFC and losing him would be a huge blow to the team.
However, he has reportedly been considering retirement in recent seasons, and Philadelphia's late-season collapse this year certainly didn't help matters. The Eagles started the season 10-1 but struggled to finish 1-6 which included a playoff loss to the Buccaneers.
The team went from a top seed contender to a Wild Card team, which certainly left a bad taste for the franchise that had reached the Super Bowl the previous season.
His brother Travis' success with the Kansas City Chiefs, who won Super Bowl LVIII, could inspire Jason to keep it going for another season. Regardless, it appears that any finality regarding his future will be at least a few weeks away.
