Jason Kelce loved an evening out with brother Travis Kelce simply in the future after asserting his retirement from the Philadelphia Eagles.
Jason, 36, and Travis, 34, had been each honored by the Cleveland Cavaliers throughout the staff’s Tuesday, March 5, sport in opposition to the Boston Celtics at Ohio’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The duo, who grew up in Cleveland Heights, each sported customized Cavaliers jerseys for the occasion, which featured their final title and respective NFL numbers. Travis stored the remainder of his ensemble easy with an all-black ensemble, whereas Jason opted for a pair of denims with a inexperienced coat and NBA All-Star hat.
Before the sport started, the brothers obtained a standing ovation as they took heart court docket the place Jason was gifted a framed No. 62 Jersey in honor of his retirement from the NFL. Travis held the body up in celebration as Jason confirmed off a yellow Cleveland Heights T-shirt from his childhood to the gang. The Cavaliers additionally paid tribute to the pair by passing out limited-edition “Kelce Brothers” bobbleheads to the viewers.
“Congrats on an incredible career to Celevalnd Heights legend, Jason Kelce!,” the official Cavaliers Instagram captioned a video from the occasion, including the hashtag, “Let Em Know.” In a second submit with images from the sport, the staff wrote, “CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, REPRESENTTTTT.”
The showering of “rocking hardware” didn’t cease there. While sitting courtside, Jason was additionally gifted a customized crystal-encrusted basketball in addition to a Luchador masks that resembled the one he sported whereas celebrating Travis’ Super Bowl LVIII win in Las Vegas final month.
Jason introduced he was formally stepping down from the NFL on Monday, March 4, after 13 years enjoying as a middle for the Philadelphia Eagles.
“So, this all brings us here to today. Where I announce that I am retiring from the NFL after 13 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles,” Jason stated throughout a 40-minute press convention. “And today I must admit, I am officially overrated. Vastly overrated. It took a lot of hard work and determination getting here. I have been the underdog my entire career, and I mean this when I say it, I wish I still was. Few things give me such joy as proving someone wrong.”
Both Kelces performed faculty soccer for the Cincinnati Bearcats. Jason was chosen by the Eagles throughout the 2011 draft, whereas Travis joined the league as a tightened for the Chiefs in 2013. During Jason’s emotional speech on Monday, Travis — who was in attendance with dad and mom Donna and Ed Kelce and Jason’s spouse, Kylie Kelce — may very well be seen getting emotional as Jason paid tribute to the brothers’ bond through the years.
“We have a small family. No cousins, one aunt, one uncle. It was really my brother and I our whole lives. We did almost everything together — competed, fought, laughed, cried and learned from each other,” he stated. “We invented games, imagined ourselves as star players of that time. We’d envision making the winning plays day after day on Coleridge Road. We won countless Super Bowls in our minds before ever leaving the house. And when we weren’t playing, we were at the other one’s games, butt seated in a lawn chair or bench, Capri Sun that mom had packed, cheering during the game and waiting outside afterward to celebrate a victory together or offer encouragement after a defeat.”
He continued, “There is no chance I’d be here without the bond Travis and I share. It made me stronger, tougher, smarter, and it taught me the values of cooperation, loyalty, patience and understanding. It’s only too poetic I found my career being fulfilled in the City of Brotherly Love. I knew that relationship all too well.”
Speculation round Jason’s future in soccer started in January after the Eagles misplaced to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ending their 2023-2024 season and knocking them out of hte playoffs. Reports surfaced that Jason advised his teammates he was retiring, which he later addressed on his and Travis’ “New Heights” podcast.
“I didn’t announce what I was doing on purpose … but people can kind of feel body language and stuff,” Jason defined. “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.”
He added that it was vital he retired on his “own terms,” and that it occurred in a manner 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.”
At the time, Travis — who went on to win this yr’s Super Bowl after defeating the Eagles final yr — admitted that it was “tough” to see his brother’s season finish the best way it did.
“I think everybody in the football world felt this one,” he stated. “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.”
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