The Transformation Of Jason Kelce From Childhood To 36 Years Old
Following the Eagles' playoff loss to the Buccaneers, Jason Kelce was the subject of retirement rumors, but there is a solid chance you will be hearing about the NFL star for many years to come. While his younger brother might be the biggest media darling in the family — thanks to his flashy outfits and high-profile romance with Taylor Swift — the elder Kelce has become a huge celebrity in his own right. Let's start with his football resume and all of the things he has accomplished over his 13 seasons in the NFL. The holder of the Philadelphia Eagles' record for most consecutive regular-season starting games, Kelce went from being a sixth-round draft pick to a seven-time Pro Bowl, six-time first-team All-Pro, Super Bowl LII champion who is widely regarded as one of the league's all-time best centers.
Not only is he a fantastic football player with a list of awards and records, but Kelce has also put his stamp on culture through music, podcasting, and charity work. Fans love him for his fun, goofy personality just as much as they love him for his ball playing. Take, for example, Kelce's 2018 Super Bowl parade speech, where he wore a flamboyant Mummers costume and said things like, "Hungry dogs run faster" and "No one likes us. We don't care." That speech, given at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, has become nearly as iconic as the museum's famous steps (which you likely know from "Rocky"). Here is a look at how Philly's beloved superstar Jason Kelce has transformed from his childhood until now.
He grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio
While Jason Kelce will always be intimately linked to Philadelphia, where he is essentially worshiped and where he spent his entire NFL career, the athlete is not originally from there. Given his relationship with younger brother Travis, we can't help but wish Kelces hailed from "The City of Brotherly Love," but the NFLer's roots are in Ohio. The elder of the two Kelce brothers was born in Greenville, North Carolina but his family moved to Ohio when he was a baby, and he spent nearly all of his life in Cleveland Heights before heading off to college (also in Ohio). In fact, the Kelce brothers named their podcast (more on that later) "New Heights" partially as an homage to the city in which they were raised.
Kelce was born in 1987, two years before his younger brother and only sibling. His father Don was a steel sales representative, while his mother Donna worked in banking, providing him with a comfortable middle-class upbringing. He attended Cleveland Heights High School, where he played both hockey and football. Though he was a good football player in high school, Kelce played a different position back then (linebacker) and failed to get an initial athletic scholarship offer to attend college (he later asked for, and got, a scholarship partway through his time at the University of Cincinnati, around the time he changed positions). In addition to football, Kelce played saxophone in his high school's jazz band, which is simply adorable to imagine.
He and his brother were very competitive from an early age (and not just in football)
Ask anyone with a sibling and chances are they will acknowledge that sibling rivalry is a real thing. For some, that rivalry might simply bubble under the surface and only rear its head once in a blue moon, while for others, it might be so cutthroat so as to completely inhibit any sort of closeness in the relationship. Luckily for Jason Kelce, his rivalry with his 23-months younger brother Travis is somewhere in the middle. The brothers grew up being extremely competitive with one another, but, by all accounts, have also always been very close and unwaveringly supportive. "Yeah, it's a lot of broken windows, a lot of, you know, crashes, a lot of fighting. They were very, very competitive from a very early age," their mother Donna told Fox4.
While their mom named Travis as the main instigator, Jason was certainly up for showing him who was boss. According to their mom, they competed in not just football, but also dodgeball and golf. They also fought over things that any person with a sibling can relate to, like who got to ride shotgun in the car or who could run to the restaurant table the fastest. Although they had a playful rivalry growing up — and as Donna told People, are "still just as competitive as adults today" — the brothers are also incredibly tight. Sports Illustrated stated that they "fuel each other's greatness," and they are right up there with the Mannings, Barbers, and Watts' in terms of notable NFL sibling duos.
He started at the University of Cincinnati in 2006
Though he did not receive a scholarship upon his admission, Jason Kelce was encouraged to attend the University of Cincinnati as a redshirt, and he opted to take the school up on their offer. He enrolled there in 2006, as a marketing major, and was named the scout team's defensive player of the year. That helped him make the offensive line the following year, transitioning from linebacker to center. He then went on to become an all-conference honoree and a starter for multiple seasons. He also asked for a scholarship after being approached to switch positions in 2007, which the team approved. Kelce was known as "Big Kelc," no doubt because of his body type but also because his younger, leaner brother Travis joined him at Cincinnati in 2008.
The brothers lived together, and articles on Big Kelc's college years paint him as quite the party animal during this time period. A profile in The Athletic detailed his love for flip flops, country music, Nintendo 64, beer, and drinking games — and a reputation for his raucous partying when not focused on the field. "We were having a party after one of the games and Jason was a little bit inebriated, let's say, and he ripped the sink out of the wall in one of the bathrooms. And everybody was like, 'What the hell? Who is this guy? This walk-on just ripped the freaking sink out of the wall,'" said his college teammate Craig Carey.
He was drafted in 2011 and quickly exceeded expectations
As absolutely crazy as it sounds today, Jason Kelce was not an in-demand player when he first started in the NFL. He was a sixth-round draft pick in 2011, and there are only seven rounds, so that's not great. He was pick 191 and was the 30th offensive lineman drafted, but the Philadelphia Eagles saw something in Kelce. They originally even had him down as a fourth-round pick, according to the team's general manager Howie Roseman. Though they wanted Kelce, Roseman has said that the center's reputation was a barrier to him getting picked earlier. "I do remember in the draft room, (scouts) were going, "I'm just telling you, he might fight half the team,'" Roseman said on Kelce's "New Heights" podcast (per NBC Sports Philadelphia). "'And he really likes to party.'"
The nice thing about lowered expectations is that there is a lot of room to surprise people, which is exactly what Kelce did in his rookie season. Like everyone else, he was unable to sign his contract right away due to the NFL lockout that year, but his four-year deal was inked by the end of July 2011. He joined the practice squad, earned his rightful place as starting center, and went on to become an Eagles legend and a Philadelphia hero. "If you draw up the perfect NFL player, he would look an awful lot like Jason Kelce for everything he brings to the table," wrote Eagles Insider writer Dave Spadaro in 2022.
An ACL injury in 2012 didn't stop him from kicking butt the next year
Jason Kelce had a good first season in the NFL, surpassing people's expectations and setting the stage for what would become an incredible run in the league. But things took a slight downturn when Kelce suffered an ACL injury in September 2012, forcing him to the sidelines for the remainder of his second season. When he returned to play the following year, he was at the very top of his game — leading to what is largely regarded as his breakout season. Kelce started in every game of the 2013 season, during which the Eagles made the playoffs and, according to sports analytics company Pro Football Focus, he was the top center in the league. This was around the time that people started to see Kelce's full potential.
Because of his stellar 2013, Kelce was in a fantastic position to negotiate a new contract. In 2014, he signed on to play for the Eagles for six more seasons in a contract worth $37.5 million, with $13 million of that guaranteed. Kelce's salary continued to grow in the proceeding years and, in by final season, he was the NFL's best paid center, on a one-year contract worth $14.25 million. Kelce has made nearly $82 million over the course of his career — not including income from non-football sources — so he's done dang well. Of course, that is nowhere near the top of the league's salary food chain since offensive linemen generally make less than defensive linemen, wide receivers, edge rushers, and especially quarterbacks.
He was selected for his first Pro Bowl in 2014
For the uninitiated, the National Football League's Pro Bowl is league's version of an all-star game, which pretty much exists in some form in all of the big sports. The league's all-star games date back to 1939, but they looked very different back then. All-star games ceased in 1942, a few years into the second World War, and did not pick back up again for nearly a decade. When they began again 1951, they were called the Pro Bowl and organized by conference. The game has shifted locations and timelines over the years, but it is a mainstay that holds much social capital. Since 2010, the Pro Bowl has been played a week prior to the Super Bowl, and it became a part of the weeklong "The Pro Bowl Games" as of 2023.
Jason Kelce's seven Pro Bowls are a huge accomplishment, and it all began with his first selection in 2014 — which was also the league's second try at the "unconferenced" format (it went back to the AFC vs. NFC format in 2017). "It's obviously a tremendous honor to be voted into the Pro Bowl," he said upon learning of his selection in December 2014. Kelce was one of nine Eagles players (and one of four of the league's centers) chosen to play in the January 2015 game, voted in by a combination of NFL fans, players, and coaches. He received the honor again for the 2016 season, and then for every season from 2019 until 2023.
In 2015, he met his now-wife on Tinder and they had an awful first date
While Travis Kelce at one point had a dating show and is currently in a relationship with the biggest pop star on earth, Jason Kelce's love life looks a lot more like the rest of ours. The elder Kelce brother met Kylie McDevitt (now Kylie Kelce) on Tinder in 2015, and Kylie had no idea she had matched with a professional athlete. A Philly native, Kylie was in college — where she played field hockey and studied communication — when she and her now-husband went on their first date at a bar. Things almost ended there, since Jason fell asleep 45 minutes into the evening, but he was given another chance after calling and apologizing the next day.
Jason and Kylie made their public debut as a couple in November 2015, with a simple black-and-white Instagram photo paying homage to their mutual right swipe. Kylie started posting about their relationship on her socials, but shies away from too much attention (she sits in the stands instead of the executive box, for example). That said, they have shared the story about Jason's fake bathroom cover-up while he went to ask for Kylie's parents' permission before proposing to her in August 2017. "He was only in there for maybe two minutes, and I said, 'Jason, go back in there, and go to the bathroom,'" Kylie said on the "New Heights" podcast (via The Sun). "I know you didn't just go in there and take a s**t...it usually takes you 20 minutes."
He became a first-team All-Pro for the first time in 2017
Being invited to play in the Pro Bowl is a big honor, but making the All-Pro team is an even bigger one. While the Pro Bowl is the NFL's designated game for all stars, getting onto the All-pro team is seen as more impressive because the Pro Bowl players are voted upon by the not just players and coaches, but also the public, which makes them more likely to be impacted by players' popularity and image. The Associated Press's All-Star team, on the other hand, is decided upon by 50 writers and broadcasters who are experts on all things NFL. The AP All-Pro — which includes a first- and second-team — is generally the one people are talking about when they refer to "All-Pro," but other media organizations such as The Pro Football Writers of America and the Sporting News also craft all-star rosters.
Jason Kelce became a first-team All-Pro for the first time in 2017, and he has received the honor every year since, with the exception of 2020. Many have said that these honors bolster his already-strong case for the Hall of Fame, alongside his six Pro Bowls and one Super Bowl win. It makes sense, too, seeing as how he is one of only five centers to have received the honor six times since the list started more than 80 years ago, and all four of the others are Hall of Famers. His 2023 inclusion also made him the third Eagles player in history to make it onto six All-Pro first teams.
He played in (and won) his first Super Bowl in 2018
Jason Kelce had his best year on record in 2017, ending the season as the highest-rated offensive lineman in the NFL and winning the award for the Run Blocker of the Year. It was no surprise that he earned his first All-Pro first-team honor, not just for his individual success but also because everything he did in 2017 helped his team get to the Super Bowl. Super Bowl LII, played in February 2018, was Kelce's first time making it to the season's final game, and remains his only Super Bowl win. Moreover, Super Bowl LII was the first — and to date, only — time in history that the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl. All of the franchise's three other championship wins came before the Super Bowl era began and the last was in 1960, so the Super Bowl LII win was a massive moment for Philadelphia sports fans.
While every player on the Eagles contributed to their big win, Kelce became the team's breakout star and a full-on media darling in the aftermath of the game. He gave his aforementioned iconic speech dressed in a Mummers costume at the championship parade celebrating the win, which Philadelphia Magazine later called the start of his "legendary moments." In the months following the Super Bowl victory, Kelce did everything from play saxophone with the Philadelphia Orchestra to guest star on Season 13 of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" for two super fun episodes.
His giant dog walked with him down the aisle at his wedding
Jason Kelce and his wife took a huge step in May 2017 when they got a dog together, flying to Nashville and then driving 15 hours back to Philadelphia with their new family member. The pup, which they named Winnie, was only four months old but already 50 pounds — an early sign that the Irish wolfhound was perhaps going to grow up to be as big as daddy. The Kelces now have another dog of the same breed, named Baloo, but it is Winnie that played an integral role in their wedding ceremony. Winnie, by then 120 pounds, walked down the aisle alongside the couple just after they said "I do." The dog was there for the whole wedding, according to a wedding profile in Philadelphia Magazine.
Winnie may have been the furriest guest at the Kelces' wedding (although Jason is pretty furry himself), but the place was packed to the brim with 170 humans too. The ceremony was held on April 14, 2018, only two months after Kelce's big Super Bowl win, at the Logan Hotel in Philadelphia. It took place outdoors and inexplicably featured white folding chairs, which seems like an odd choice when a lot of the guests were likely 200+ pound athletes. The couple's marriage is still going strong today, despite the chaos of managing three young kids and an athlete's schedule. "We're the most important thing in both of our lives, and like, everything else takes a back seat," Kelce explained on "TODAY" in October 2023.
He posed nude for the ESPN Body Issue the same year he became a dad
Jason Kelce is both a dad and a daddy — there are many daddies/zaddies in the NFL — so let's start with his dad-ness in the literal sense. He and his wife welcomed their first child, daughter Wyatt Elizabeth, in October 2019. Kelce was characteristically goofy in his Instagram announcement, throwing up a photo of his daughter laying on his wife's chest and holding up a couple of fingers. "Chunked up the Deuces on her way out," he captioned it, alongside her name, birthdate, and weight. The couple have already added two more to their brood, which means that they have three children under the age of five and either truly love being parents or are just plain insane. "I need to knock on wood, but we really lucked out," he told People in May 2023, shortly after his youngest was born. "It's really easy, to be honest with you, so we're still waiting for that shoe to drop."
In addition to becoming a father in 2019, Kelce also did a couple of other big things. He renewed his commitment to the Eagles, signing a three-year contract extension worth $24.5 million and solidifying his presence on the team through 2021. He also got naked for ESPN's annual Body Issue (since discontinued), which highlighted athletic bodies from a wide variety of sports and featured a multitude of different ages, races, and body types. The shoot included four other Eagles defensive linemen who wanted to bust the "O-line body stigma" but it was Kelce who showed the most booty.
He started a podcast with his brother and released the first of two Christmas albums in 2022
Jason Kelce has simply done too much, on and off the field, to do his story justice in less than a full-on tome, so we are hitting on as many big accomplishments as possible. And since 2022 was a big year for Kelce when it comes to his non-football endeavors, we have crammed as much in here as possible. For starters, 2022 is the year that Kelce and his brother started their podcast "New Heights," a thoroughly enjoyable and very funny show that has become a bonafide hit. It was one of the top 20 podcasts of 2023, per Variety, and holds the number one spot on Apple Podcasts as of this writing. With a 4.9 star-rating on Apple and a penchant for making headlines, "New Heights" seems like it has the legs to continue well beyond Kelce's retirement from the NFL.
The podcast was the splashiest thing Kelce did in 2022, but not the only notable endeavor. In October, he founded the (Be)Philly Foundation with the altruistic aim of empowering and enriching the lives of young Philadelphians. This coincided with the launch of Kelce's Underdog Apparel clothing line, which donates 100% of its proceeds to the foundation. Kelce also showed off his philanthropical side — and his musical talents — with the release of "A Philly Special Christmas," a charity album he created with a couple of teammates and some local musicians. The album raised $1.25 million for Philadelphia charities and its success led to a hugely successful (thanks to Swifties!) follow-up album in 2023.
He had his third baby weeks after the historical Kelce Bowl
After their first daughter was born in October 2019, Jason Kelce and the Mrs. got straight to work on baby number two. Their second daughter Elliotte Rya came along in March 2021, and their third kid, also a girl, was born in February 2023. Little Bennett Llewellyn made her debut on the 23rd of the month, less than two full weeks after Kelce's historic appearance at Super Bowl LVII. His wife, Kylie, was so close to her due date at the Super Bowl that she even brought her OB-GYN to the game with her. She also brought a backup one, neither were likely complaining about the free tickets. With a baby and a Super Bowl, Jason Kelce pretty much had the most monumental month possible in February 2023.
A Super Bowl is always a huge deal, particularly for a team that does not get there too often (no shade, just statistics), but Super Bowl LVII was legendary for one big reason: The Kelce family. It was the first time in NFL history that two brothers faced off at the Super Bowl — despite roughlt two dozen sibling duos/trios having played at the same time in the league — and it put both Jason and Travis Kelce in the history books. This particular Super Bowl has been dubbed the "Kelce Bowl" for that reason, and the boys' mother Donna famously wore an outfit with elements of both the Eagles' and Kansas City Chiefs' jerseys. The Eagles may have lost, but the Kelces sure didn't.
In 2023, he made People's Sexiest Man Alive issue and had a documentary made about him
If you still don't believe us about Jason Kelce's sex symbol status, then maybe you will believe People magazine, which reportedly considered Kelce for the cover of their iconic "Sexiest Man Alive" issue in 2023. Though Patrick Dempsey ended up with that particular placement, Kelce made the overall cut and was featured in the "Men of the Year" section alongside hotties like Pedro Pascal, Lenny Kravitz, and Timothée Chalamet. The longtime NFL player used his trademark self-deprecating humor to make the big announcement to his following, posting a link to the article on X with the caption "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...". It is a great caption, but we all know the dude is sexy. Travis joked that the whole family assumed the magazine had "written the wrong name by accident," but don't feel bad for Trav because People readers voted him "Sexiest Athlete."
Jason Kelce's hunkiness aside, his 2023 hot streak was further extended by the September release of the documentary film "Kelce," streaming on Amazon's Prime Video. The documentary is a behind-the-scenes look into Kelce's 2022-2023 season, trailing him on his run to the Kelce Bowl showdown. It also covers his life off the field, including his marriage and the meteoric rise of the podcast he hosts with his younger brother, "New Heights." "We ended up having a good story on kind of what it's like to go through an NFL season, all the different narratives that are happening," Kelce told Sports Illustrated.
He reportedly announced his retirement to his teammates in early 2024
When Amazon Prime Video first approached Jason Kelce about featuring him in a documentary, the idea was to trace his journey toward retirement. Kelce threw a big ol' pile of dirt on that idea when he failed to retire in 2022, but Amazon pivoted and crafted a compelling documentary nonetheless. They had good reason to believe that Kelce was going to retire, as he took a long time to make the decision, and even he did not seem to know where the chips would fall. In the end, he signed a massive one year contract to do one more round with the Eagles, earning him $14.25 million for the 2023-2024 season and continuing his streak as the highest paid center in the league.
Kelce reportedly declared his retirement to his teammates after a big loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January 2024. While media outlets reported it, nothing formal has been announced publicly — and that has been purposeful. "I just don't think you're in a position after a game like that to really make that decision," Kelce said on his podcast (via NBC News). "I'm not trying to be dramatic and continue to draw this thing out. I'm really not. It's just something 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, what has led to the career I've had."