PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - PHLY Eagles Podcast | Jason Kelce announces his emotional retirement from the Philadelphia Eagles

Episode Date: March 4, 2024

Eagles center Jason Kelce announced his retirement Monday in front of a packed auditorium at the Eagles’ complex, closing the book on a storybook 13-year career.Zach Berman and Bo Wulf have been there for the entirety of that career and take the time to reflect on Kelce’s speech, his legacy and what this means for the roster moving forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

My Eagles show on a Monday afternoon. We push things back from noon today to 3 o'clock so that Zach and I could be there to watch Jason Kelsey, spend a good amount of time going through the course of his career, reflecting on everything that has gone into a Hall of Fame career. He has announced his retirement. We're going to talk about that. We'll get into some of the ramifications for the Eagles roster, but mostly reflecting on what has been a remarkable. remarkable career. I know everybody in the chat is already talking about how much they were crying throughout the performance. Zach, did you get emotional. I did not cry. I did not cry. But first

off, I was impressed with Jason as a writer, right? From one writer to another, a little envious. But it was, it was a beautiful speech, right? And for someone who's covered his career, hearing those specific moments, the perspective that he had on all of them. And then the emotional part especially was him talking about Kylie, his wife and his parents and the relationship that he has with his brother, right, things that really transcend what we see with him as a football player. You know, him talking about when Kylie walked into Buffalo billiards, right?

And being, and seeing the molten steel with his, his father and his mother going to college and what he learned from her. And then just that genuine relationship with Travis, there was much there that you can see. You see a lot of who Jason is through all these interactions along the way. Well, he rolled it into the city of brotherly love, right? That's exactly the relationship that the team has, the fans have with the players. You know, when they're doing their best, they're going to thank them for it. And when they're not doing their best, they're going to tell them that. And they're going to be honest.

And that's the relationship you guys with Jason. I got emotional. I had some tears, absolutely. I mean, I was sitting there. I've been seeing this guy for over a decade. He's going through the emotional ringer. I'm not going to feel empathetic towards that. Absolutely.

What made you cry? I mean, a lot of it. I think, like, see, it wasn't even just the family stuff to me because that was only at the very end. He was getting emotional throughout at all. I mean, he, like the, the reverence. that he has for football and everything that it has brought to his life, the way that he starts the speech.

Like that whole thing was a love letter to the game, right? And what it gave him at a young age, like the things that had taught him in college about hard work. And then, you know, the fortune that he's had to play in the NFL, but working with all of these people from all these different sports, a lot of these things are themes that he has talked about over the course of his 13-year career. You know, he's talked often about, you know, how much he loves.

the fact that an NFL locker room is such a melting pot and is so diverse and a lot of these things that you know he he's playing back hungry dogs run faster and no man is an island and we've seen some of these things but uh to to see it all rolled into one it was i agree it was it was very impressive yeah the the football stuff for sure now now some of that is is stuff we've been you know party to right and so seeing him him i roll in for sure but when you're saying the parts that really resonated with me, it was the human element of it. And also him acknowledging, like, the Jason Kelsey that the world sees now,

that was not the Jason Kelsey from 2016. That was not the Jason Kelsey from 2012. I mean, before Philadelphia knew him, that was not the Jason Kelsey in college, right? Or in Cleveland Heights. So seeing the vulnerability, the humanity that that

really accumulated to build this first ballot hall of famer you don't usually see someone as open and honest as Jason Kelsey was today. Let us know in the comments what your favorite parts were

and maybe your favorite parts of Kelsey's career obviously. You know what though? Like I think there's also like a a nice message that is to be told from him sitting up there and getting emotional and, you know, we're in a sport where like it's so often this like toxic, toxic masculinity, right? And certainly he's got some of that too. Like, you know, we'll talk about him running over his I hear Franklin in the middle of cult practices

and stuff. And that's one of the things that I know that he has given a lot of thought to in post-playing career. Like what is going to be the vessel for him to get rid of that anger? sure but you know this is a guy who's who's very in touch with his emotions there's nothing wrong with that nothing at all and well some i mean if you don't think it's productive then i think his his emotions are productive okay and i would say well earned right like i don't think anything there today was was manufactured per se i think when he got up there he couldn't get a word out before before crying yeah so i'm walking in he's already got tears in his eyes walking up he knows

he might have seen you and that yeah that must have been it but but the gravity like the gravity of this hit him right away when he got up there uh and the real you can hear him like he really did break when he when he finally said the words you know 35 minutes in like I'm announcing my retirement

and like the word retirement when he said that I felt like hit him like a ton of bricks like this really is it but because obviously he's danced with this for like five years now sure and he's sitting up there and he looks to his right and Travis is there. And Ed Kelsey and Donna Kelsey are there. And Kylie Kelsey are there. And then you get the second row and, you know, Jason Bernstein, his agent.

And throughout the auditorium, people who've been part of this journey, Jeff Stoutland, Jeff Stoughtland's family, Nick Siriani, you know, Howie Roseman. It was the Connor Barwin, Brent Selleck. I can keep going on. So the gravity of the moment, it hit him right away. The first minute and a half, there might have been two words, right? And he was wondering, how's he going to get through this? I'm wondering, how's he going to get through this, right?

I mean, we've seen Jason cry. I've seen him overcome lots of things. This is him overcoming something more time. And then he got rolling. And then there were particular touch points in there that, that hit him. Are you impressed that it was all done on the phone and not like a printed out piece of paper?

You think it was a notes app? You think it was like a... Well, that's how people... You think he was reading an email that he sent to himself? What do you think was the actual physical read on the phone? I would probably guess a notes app, but I'm not sure. I mean, you see that a lot now at wedding speeches, right? I'm more of...

Give me the paper, right? I don't want to just read it off the phone. Sometimes you can memorize it. This would have been a hard one to memorize today. It would have been a lot. Yeah, sometimes you can do it impromptu. But the words, the message, it was, I've been to a handful of retirement press conferences. And this was different because of like the thought that went into each of those words, each of those interactions over the years.

Well, and I think that it says a lot about. him, right? That it began with like thanking all of the you know, he's thanking his high school band teacher in addition to, you know, the high school coaches and all these people and you know, he has with Travis, like they have let people into

their lives a lot with with the podcast and he has always been very authentic and willing to talk to anybody, right? But some of those things like you maybe have heard before, but I think it, like if you're putting yourself in his parents' shoes, I think you would be proud of the fact that, like, he is up there knowing that, like,

this is the biggest story in football, and he's spending the time to specifically thank, like, all of these people along the way who helped him get there. Like, that is not lost on him. Well said. And like specifically by name, you know, and strength coaches. I think of the pop that everybody, like, mentioned is going to get from that. Sure. The strength coaches, right?

Longo, the strength coach at Cincinnati, who made him a center. I am curious, though, if I can ask you, when you think about this press conference 10 years from now, what's the line that's going to most resonate? And which one do you think is going to be like the line from this press conference that people remember the most? Well, it seems like you have one. No, I'm asking you. I'm allowed to. I don't know that I have a – but there is one line that I have that I think I might write about tonight, but I don't know if it's the one that I will remember or like that's the – most like the big takeaway what is the one that you have well i think the one the fans are going to

remember is that nick foals doug peterson oh that was very funny yes what did he he i'm trying to think can i say it here uh yeah i mean you curse on the show all the time yeah but now i'm i'm mindful of this he he said he said he said nick he's going through he goes he know he goes the specific memories yes he there were like 12 specific memories that he had and one of them obviously was the super pole and yeah Yeah, he said, you know, I'll never forget Nick Foles with the biggest dick on the team, walking over to Doug Peterson and saying, let's do, let's do Philly, and Doug Peterson had the biggest balls in the stadium and said, yeah, let's do it.

Yeah, it was good. I think people are going to remember that. I like the line about when he was talking about his famous speech. That was a very good line. And he said, he said that was not my speech. That was Philadelphia. Yes. I thought that was a very good line.

Yeah, I think that's really going to resonate. in this town for a long time. I think the, I've heard him say, the Daron Spro's line was funny. The Daryngs, a little offensive. He said the 6 foot 9,

Jordan Milata with the 4 foot 8, Darren Sproles. Darren Sproles is taller than 4'8, but it was set for effect. Yeah. But that, actually, that sequence there, I like that especially because

that is so true in a football locker room. Yeah, that was good writing too. What's that? It was good writing too. He doesn't have to mention Fletcher Cox by name. He just has to say a defensive tackle from Yazoo City. Nor DeVante Smith or Jake Elliott, right? Devante Smith's the skinny wide receiver from Louisiana.

By the way, no mention of a quarterback from Channel View High School. Yeah. I don't know. I'm not trying to, not trying to stir anything. I just thought that was kind of interesting. There was no even allusion to the quarterback. I don't know. Just thought me by surprise.

Vosiferous defensive, Nick Siriani? Yes. a, I don't say a defense, but an endorsement for Howie Roseman who, he knows at one point in his career, like the Eagles were. He loves to take a chance to mention the year, the year on the other side of the building. Yeah, no, but no, but the 2016 year, like that really sticks with Jason. Right. That there are a lot of people in that building. Yeah.

Who are looking to get rid of him. And when he, you know, he said, I think the Jeff's doubt on parts, like outside of the of the family, the Jeff Stalyn parts were probably the most touching to me because the amount of time they spend with each other, right? It's more than they spend with their families. Sure. It is, and it's rare to have a position coach and a player for 11 years. And it's not just a position coach there.

It's, it's as he said, like Jeff Stalden was the guy in the building who kept him there, who believed in him. Yeah. And when he said that, you know, all you need sometimes is someone who believes in you. Like that. There's a special power to that. Yeah. That really resonates.

So it's interesting because for him it's both, right? Like it's, he's talking about all along the way there have been these people who believed in me. But also his motivation has always been proven people wrong. And like people who doubt him, that's what really gets him going. Yeah. So like to have the both forces at once, I think he feels is what helped propel him. that's well said because the second point there about being doubted and whatnot the the end of his speech it was interesting he said he's overrated yeah he said he's

accomplished a lot but he says when he's when he's best and is is when he's being doubted it he says he would kill to be the underdog right he would wish he wishes more than anything he was still an underdog he was still an underdog and it is true like over these past three years in the past, I would say 18 months in particular, he's turned into a transcendent figure. Someone, I mean, it's odd to think that a center of a football team is this press conference today, this was streamed live all over the place, right? National TV was streaming this live.

That this was, this is the biggest story in the NFL today. this is one of the biggest stories. I mean, I don't say one of the biggest stories in the world. That's hyperbole. But it's going to be like, it's a transcendent. I don't think you should go even bigger. Space guy. Let's see.

How about the galaxy? It's a transcendent news topic. And to think that the center of a football team gets that, that is, it's hard to overstate that. Like Deshawn Jackson, one of the most exciting players in Eagles history, retired this year. And it was a nice ceremony. Tough timing, by the way. friend Duffy put out who put out the great video of Jason Kelsey's career.

They put out another one on Deshawn Jackson and it gets released the day of the Kelsey retirement. We're talking about getting buried. But yeah, but I'm saying like players in this league come and go, they all say you're all running space. Like Jason Kelsey is a part of, to use the term you like to say, the National Zykeist, in a way that is, it's almost hard to fathom. And that press conference today, like the amount of, of, of, you know,

of text that I received and I was walking out that door. Flex. I don't know if that's flex. I mean, you would not believe the amount of text that was getting. I am so popular. That's, okay, that's not what I was suggesting. My point is, is people I hadn't heard from in a long time. Obama?

I wish, I wish President Obama reached out. I did not get a message. Jeffrey? No, no, I did not hear from Jeffrey. Pause, though. I did not hear from Jeffrey. But no, so point being that you see, like for him to get to that level of consciousness, says a lot about Jason Kelsey.

Now there was also one very funny moment in the middle of the press conference. I don't know if you caught this. You know, Kelsey is thanking the people. You know, he mentions Dom, the lifeblood of the organization. What a move by Dom in the middle of this press conference. There's a lawnmower going on outside, like halfway through the press. conference and Dom goes, I was like, dude, give it 15 minutes, please. Like, not now.

I mean, the landscaper's just doing his job. It's not the landscaper's fault. You know, that's the very wide gamut of our responsibilities that Dom is able to take. Yeah. That was funny. What else from what else from the speech got to you? What are you looking at? I'm just looking at the comments.

I appreciate everyone tuning in live. and those who are going to watch this back, this is going to be a good episode. So what else got to me? What is that supposed to mean? So I can say this. You're saying that people love it. You're saying the people love Jason Kelsey.

Yes, exactly. A touching slash sad moment was when he was talking about Garrett Reed. Yeah, I thought this was, I mean, that list of his reflections, like the moments that he would never forget, I thought was really interesting. And that's actually, I was crying. I was tearing up during that part when he talks about his dad coming in with tears

in his eyes because his son has realized his dream. And then he's the one who has the tears in his eyes when Andy calls Travis. But for him to call out the Garrett Reed mentioned, because for me, you know, I started covering the Eagles a year before he got there, right? Or two years before. And like, so all of his memories, those are my memories too from like, we're about the same age from like the same point of my life. Now, we have different perspectives on them, obviously.

We live different things. But like, if I'm thinking of the most, like, vivid memories I have from my time curve from the team, that is certainly one of them. And, like, the way that he talked about it as, like, one of the most, like, real moments he's ever had, like, connecting with a group of men. Like, of course, that is a, like, a core memory from his experience. And it, I think that's part of the, um, the, um, the greatness of the way that Kelsey is able to connect with the fan base and talk to people,

that, like, he's not going to sugarcoat stuff. Sure. He's talking about the arc of his career, one of the most, like, vivid memories. That is one of them. And so what if it makes people uncomfortable? Like, that happened, and, like, he will never forget that. Well said. So that stood out.

Then you get to, I mean, 2013, the check. Kelly, that first game. But when he was talking about... He said almost 50 plays, I believe it was 53 plays in the first time. But when he was talking about the snow game, and he said like the most fun he's ever had playing football, and it felt like you were in the backyard. And when he said that Travis, Travis was like nodding his head and tearing up

because you can imagine that's what they did in Cleveland Heights, right? In the backyard, just playing football in the snow. And that's like, you know, again, like, if I'm thinking about my time, like, that is going to be one of the few things that I definitely like vividly remember. Like, you know, it's just interesting. And then when you get to, so I thought the Zach Ertz reference is I'm kind of going, I'm going sequentially in terms of the years. That's okay. Not sequentially in the way he said it.

It was a long speech. It's hard. Yeah, but the Zach Ertz reference from 2016 and like seeing the effect that had on Zach Ertz. And when he was talking about kind of redeeming yourself in the city's eyes. So then you have obviously this, after the 2016. season like we said look the eagles drafted isa samanalo and there was a lot of talk then about the eagles moving on from jason kelsey and uh and said the relationship with stout and then you get to the super bowl uh and then you get to nick syriani and the way he utilized the flower

analogy and the endorsement somebody made it knocked the flowers back but the roots are still there yes and the endorsement that he gave for nick syriani when he talked about the super bowl against Travis and the conflicted emotions of losing that game but seeing your brother win. I would say when he talked about playing in Philadelphia, that, and I've heard him speak about this a number of times, and every time it's more kind of poignant and direct. And I would say, like, raw and true every time, he's used this term so many times over, It's true that you write your own narrative. And it's something that, I mean, we on the other side of this,

I always keep in mind, like, they're the ones writing the narrative. We're chronicling it, but they're the ones writing the narrative. They're the ones controlling it. And he tells us to players all the time. And he says how Philadelphia is hard to play in. Sometimes you hate it, but they're demanding. And he said, they want you to love Philadelphia. or they want you to love it as much as they love it.

And he's someone who really understood. Like, I think we've used this line before that he didn't just play in Philadelphia. Like, he's of Philadelphia now. He understood the city. And actually, Jeffrey Lurie has a statement out now. It's a long statement, but there's a line in there. And I'm quoting him directly, quote, Jason was an incredible football player,

the future Hall of Famer who would have been successful anywhere, but has there ever been a perfect marriage, a more perfect marriage, rather, between a player, a city, and a team? And it's an interesting way of framing it. Yeah, and I don't think there, I don't think there has been, certainly not in my time. And, you know, people will say that Dawkins,

and I think there's some connective tissue there. The PR advice of what you just said of, like, you write your own narrative, I think is something important for, like, team to keep in mind. Sure. Because we've talked about this. Like when they, when, when there is silence and there is the absence of their voices,

like then the story gets written for you. And Kelsey was good at, you know, not making that happen. Now, he also, like, rose to a level where he was able to do that and control it a little bit more himself. But, like, not everybody on the roster has that gravitas. But I think it is, like, a good, just piece of PR advice. All said. in addition to look all the all the stuff about kiley was was great and touching but it was

poignant too when he said that it's no coincidence that the best years of his career came with her by his side right like the belief that she created and the support um and that is true and you could say like jeff stoutland the belief there but you look at these last five six years of his career it's the best he's ever played. And he would tell you that that's not a coincidence. Yeah, I think we've talked about in the past how there's sort of like a trick that Kelsey plays where he makes it seem like he is an every man, right? And there's sort of a falseness to that because, you know, he's like one of the best

athletes to ever play offensive line. Like, you know, he's like some of his combine records still stand. he sees the game in this like savant like way he obviously like he he makes you feel like oh if if i could have put in all of that work like maybe i could have gotten to that level which is which is not the case and i think that you know he has made the case that he doesn't see himself as a hall of fame player because he's not like scheme transcendent he thinks about like jason peters and and i do love that story the first time he ever saw jason peters take a pass set and then he saw everybody else he's like okay i'll be i'll be fine um

But I think there's a flip side to that where the things that he allowed the team to do are because of his unique skill set at the position. Sure, it took, you know, Howard Mudd being willing to see that and Jeff Stoutland's like designing an offense or a run game at least around that. Good coaching is about putting your players in the best positions to succeed, right? but the things that he allowed them to do are different than like a Hall of Fame guard or something like that.

Like he changed the DNA of their offense with his skill set and how good he was more than I think other like, you know, quote unquote Hall of Fame players might have. Yeah, no, that's a good point. And he did say he was an overrated player.

At the end. At the end. But I don't know. He talked about that. in the Super Bowl locker room last year. Sure. Like he talked about like, you know, I'm, you know, I'm an all pro again, but like, I know the ways that I'm slipping.

Like, I am not the same player. And I'm sure that he felt that even more acutely this year. And there is something poetic about, like, he beat the game because like, you kept thinking he's going to have to miss a game at some. Like, the injuries, knock on wood, as he would do, like never caught up to him. So he, like, he closes his career with this streak. But like, he does get to go off on his terms. And I think he knows that he's not the player that he wants to be right now.

That's true, but he still was, like, he was a special player for the reasons you said, as much as the every man part comes in, the athletic ability, the technique, you know, there's that clip going around social media this weekend about, you know. I love that clip. Yeah. Yeah. Like, the way he can think football. And I would say, too, just speaking to players who played with him and players who played against him. That's the ultimate measure, right? Because they'll tell you how valuable he is and how kind of special he is as a player.

I mean, I'm not an expert on offensive line play. But when you speak to other offensive linemen, they appreciate these subtleties with which he plays. Well, and another thing that he always talks about, of course, is the camaraderie, right? And how much he loves just being around the guys. And you know that Jason Kelsey is a man who has. sucked back a few Miller lights in his time. Because a lot has changed over the years, but one thing that hasn't is the great taste of Miller Light.

It was the original light beer, and to this day, it is still the best one. Miller Light has more of the taste you want and less of the stuff you don't. And I think all throughout Philadelphia and Eagles fans elsewhere tonight, reminiscing on Jason Kelsey talking to their buddies, probably over a Miller Light.

Because what is better than getting around, you know, the campfire? or the bar stools or whatever, just sucking them back with the boys. That's what Kelsey's all about, right? Sucking them back with the boys. Sucking them back with the boys. I don't know.

You know, sometimes it says open read, and it's like freelance a little bit, but my typeface is a little too small right now and the Wi-Fi is not great in this specific room. So here we are. Uh, times change, but you can always enjoy the great taste of Miller Lite. Tastes like Miller Time to get Miller Lite delivered right to your door, visit Miller Lite.com slash p. H.L.Y. Birds.

Or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories per 12 ounces. The original light beer since 1975, baby. Now, presumably, if... Can't get this open. Presumably, if... to Jason. Presumably, if Jason Kelsey wants to go to a game next year, he knows some people, but maybe

he wants to pull a Roy Kent and just, you know, try to show up at the last minute. Wow. In that case, he should make sure he has game time on his phone because game time is the place where you can buy tickets to your favorite events without being stressed out. It's a fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports, music, comedy, and theater near you with killer deals and last minute tickets and the best price guarantee. You can stop stressing over the tickets to start getting hyped. for the fun you'll have.

Jason's only used to the view on a sideline at football games. We spend plenty of Travis's games. Okay, so. Luxury boxes. Okay, but if he wants to know what it's like in section 338, let's say, okay? He can pull that up. You can pull up the image seat for you that they have, and you get image of the seat before you buy so you know exactly what to expect when you arrive.

And it's buying tickets in a matter of seconds. It's just two taps. And Jason's all set. and the tickets are sent directly to his phone so you never have to dig through your email and Jason will tell you he's not always good at responding to emails, right? So he probably has a backlog of emails. You can snag the tickets without the stress with GameTime,

download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code P-H-L-Y for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code P-H-L-Y for $20 off. Download game time today, last minute tickets, the lowest price, guaranteed. What do you think Jason Kelsey's, doing next football season. I think Jason Kelsey is doing, my guess is Thursday night games on Amazon is my early guess.

What do you think? I don't know. Maybe NBC. See, I think the Thursday night games allow him to watch Travis play. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, you're probably right. He probably, I don't know. I don't know.

Or you can go apple picking. You're a big apple picking guy on weekends, right? That's like a thing he could do. What are you talking about? Don't you go out, you've gone apple picking before. In my life, I have gone Apple picking. On fall weekends, you've gone. Yeah, like, what are you doing?

You're going to Apple picking. Typically once a year, maybe. Okay, so Jason could go Apple picking. He can go to Lynn Villa. Okay. Don't go to Lynn Villa. Way too crowded. Okay.

Come on. Okay. But how could he get it? He would have no chance of getting around with the kids at Linville. He'd get stopped everywhere he went. Okay. Well, I just, my point is, Jason can have a free weekend with the kids, whereas if he's on NBC, he's traveling on weekends.

Yeah, that's a fair point. Well, yeah, I mean, who knows? Travis probably doesn't have much longer, so he probably does want to be able to go see those games when we're talking about. Sure, exactly. So that's why I'm thinking. I wonder if it'll be like an NBC, like a traveling show or something like that. Interesting. You can go tailgate, you know, something like that.

I don't know. And he's got the pod, of course. Got the pod. Yes. He has some other investments. You spent a couple days shadowing him at the broadcast boot camp. How good was he? He was really good.

There were things. There were technical aspects of it that he needs to refine. But there were things he was observing in the moment. There was a specific thing, for instance. They were doing a mock game. It was him and Andrew Siciliano. And he was, there was a Minnesota Vikings game. And Adam Thielen, this was from two years ago.

So Adam, Adam Thielen, it was the way he was holding the, ball and Jason observed it right away and he mentioned there's a drill that they used from Nick Siriani. So that, but actually the parts from that, from those three days that I found most fascinating wasn't as much Jason on the camera. It was so the broadcast boot camp, it's out in Los Angeles and it's players, some current, some retired who want to go in the media. And so he was with a group of like 12, 14 players.

I mean, his group included in Domenesu, it included Chris Johnson, and included Lendell White. There was a lot of... Chris Johnson and Lendell White. Yes. Thunder and Lightning. Yeah.

There were a number of players, some prominent, some less prominent, but they all had to go around the room in one of the meetings and kind of talk about why they were there, you know, like an icebreaker on the first day of like a summer camp or something. And Jason, he was very vulnerable about the fact that he knows his playing career is almost over and that he he knows players who've really struggled with

that they lose their identity they or they don't I shouldn't say they don't have an identity let's say or they're trying to figure out that that's probably a better way of framing it they're trying to find that identity post football because for a lot of these guys you know two decades of their lives they've been defined by by they define themselves almost by what they do and and the adulation that comes with it and the lifestyle that comes with it and all of a sudden it's like civilian life right so he was he was preparing ahead for it and you saw some of this those who watched the documentary last year saw saw some of this but he was he was watching like the first half yeah he was talking about how he has cattle farming

or he has cattle in missouri and he has uh some real estate investments like he's dabbled in a lot of different things he's and it's trying to figure out what he's going to do because there's nothing that can kind of replace the competitive aspect of this, right? There's things you can find intellectually stimulating. You know, there's, but, but there's nothing that you probably find as competitively stimulating as professional football. Well, I mean, you could try to get like the PhD O'I Eagles podcast to become the most popular sports show in the world.

I would love that. That'd be a nice competitive juice thing to get going. I would love that. Just that Jason wants to join, you know. He's, I mean, I'm competitive. I'm more, I kind of hope that just selfishly it ends up where he's like doing games eventually because like his insight into the game I find so interesting as opposed to like the tailgate stuff. But what he wants.

Yeah. And, you know, I hope he gets to enjoy some time with those three daughters. And, you know, I thought there was. I thought that was important. He said today that, like, increasingly he is getting more fulfillment from stuff off the field than on the field. Which is, I'm glad you brought that up because he always told us. He always told us. Howard Wood would tell, no, I'm sorry, Jeff Stalland would tell him there's going to be a time when you don't want to do this.

And Jason says, I'm always going to want to do this. He says, no, there's going to be a time when you don't want to do this. And I'm not saying that time has come. but when you're as fulfilled or more fulfilled by what's at home than what's in the locker room, that can sometimes be a sign. Yeah. Plus, you know, Kylie says on the thing, like, she wants him to be retired at a point when he can, like, still get on the floor and play with the kids.

Like, you know, you saw his body at the Pro Bowl, like, just bending over to snap the ball. Sure. Like, I think he has worn that pretty significantly. Although, I mean, I agree. But if you or I were snapping the ball, we would feel it too, right? Of course. Yeah. And we're not professional football players.

No, but we're also 37 years old. Yes, exactly. So he's near that. Yeah. The body's not what it once was for us, too. And I think we're also elite physical specimens just like Kelsey was. You were quite the athlete in high school. And beyond.

If you don't say so yourself. Yeah. Absolutely. Now, well, one more thing before we get to like the actual ramifications for the roster, because it's an important conversation. Like as fun of a personality as he is, he was also a great player. And Eagles are going to have a lot of work to do to replace him. But the other thing that we have talked about in the past,

and I think we talked about it when we watched the documentary. But like one thing that is striking about Kelsey is, and again, this goes back to like a thing you would be proud of if you were his parents, is like the attention he always pays to like every interaction. Like we've talked about like when he's out on the town, like, of course, everybody wants to come up to him and he's always given them the time of day. I think if you like ask the reporters in the locker room, like everybody who, like, who do you have the best relationship with? I think most people would just would say Jason Kelsey, right? Oh, I'm sorry.

Go ahead. Maybe that's not the case for you. But I mean, part of that's because he's been there a long time. like there are there are reps there but um i i think like a lot of teammates would say the same thing right like he is he is someone who um seems like he's always like meeting people on their level well said yeah it's it's something i've heard from a lot of different angles that he has a tremendous ability to make you feel like you're the most important person in the room when he's talking to you right um and and and sometimes

sometimes it's as simple as him listening. And sometimes it's little things that he can find to connect with you. Just a curiosity as well. Exactly. So. And listen, we have also not like, just because you're accessible to the media,

it doesn't mean you're a good guy. Like we have, we sort of danced around that game before. Like those two things are not the same. But you see it over and over. And again, like I think he is, he is genuinely authentic.

Yeah. I would say that too. And there have been, you know, instances like when I've been out and he's, you know, he's been out. And I, I will intentionally say. I will, no, I will intentionally say to like the person I'm with what, like, don't bother Jason, right? He gets bothered all the time. Don't bother Jason. And he'll, like, come over.

And he'll be, he's, and he knows how, you know, the person you're with. You're Zach Berman. He's probably saying the same thing. He's like, oh, no, no. Zach gets this all the time. No, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying he has, he has a tremendous ability to, uh,

to make people feel important. And that's, that's a skill. It's a gift in some respects. And it's one that, that he uses very well. All right. Well, uh,

you mentioned, what's your best Jason Kelsey story? The two of you. You know, I'm about to get into an outread. I'm so, sorry. Oh,

I was trying to make conversation on here. I'm trying to pace this thing out so that we can then end on the roster conversation. Yeah, so I figured we would get to that before the roster. So post this post ad read, we focused on the roster. But you know Jason very well. You, he was a part of. As well as someone in the locker room.

I don't, you know. Oh, but you covered him as a beat writer. You were a team employee when he was there when you had your, your Taibo, whatever he would call it. What was it called? When you were in the room. Tabo. Tabo.

Okay. All right. I'm sorry. I don't think that was worth that look, to be honest with you. Well, I mean, if you're going to try to call it out specifically by name, you should get it right. You could have just said the Wolfstend thing. The Wolfstend thing? Yeah.

So you've known him since he came in. Billy Blanks over here. You've known him since he came into the league. What's your best Jason Kelsey interaction? Well, I don't know if it's my best interaction. But I would say that the story from 2018 on, or was it 19? 19. It was 2019.

That was an amazing story. When we carved out time once a week to like just like I was so fascinated about like the actual little things that were going on in his body over the course of an NFL season. What I loved about that process was that having covered the team for as long as we have, like that was a side of the game that I was always curious about and never had full insight into and that he was willing to open up. I thought was great. And I think he saw the value of that as well because it was an untold story. So that's my, I mean, that's my favorite long-term thing for sure. I like that. Yeah.

There you go. That's nice. I appreciated him being willing to do that. A terrific story you can check out. You either did a number of really good stories on Jason Kelsey over the years. Okay. All right. Well, I had a whole like real estate mortgage transition here, but that got way

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but there's so much more. There's merch, there's events, there's website. You can join Charlie, Bill, and other PHLY Hockey Die Hearts at the Wells Fargo Center on March 14th as the Flyers take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Easter Conference Showdown, presented by Owipop.

There's also a trade deadline show that was just up there. The takeover tickets include pregame, there you go, March 8th. I should have mentioned this from the jump at the chicken or the egg. There's a watch party for the trade deadline. There's the takeover tickets for the one that I just mentioned, includes pregame meetup with PHLY crew and a game ticket in the assembly room to enjoy all the, or to enjoy the game with the other die hearts. Check out all our upcoming events at all phtly.com under the events calendar.

You can follow the P.HLY Phillies team for details on opening day. And you can see the shirts we have up there. Make sure you become a diehard, not just for the discount on the merch, not just for 20% off events, not just for the free shirt when you become a member, not just for the members only die hard or the members only Discord, but also the premium written content, including today's 100 free agents for the Eagles written by Boowulf. It's an awesome piece. We're going to delve into that quite a bit during the next four days, but you can find that all on all p.hly.com. Thanks for plugging that. We will indeed get into that.

And one thing that we should talk about is how the Eagles are going to go about backfilling Jason Kelsey's departure. So obviously they have drafted people to be the eventual success for over the years. Successor over the years. Cam Juergens, we expect, will become the starting center. but that all of a sudden leaves a hole at right guard. In theory, that's Tyler Steen in the short term. Now they also have Sue Opetta and Jack Driscoll set to be free agents,

and so the depth along the offensive line is often a big hang-up for them, and it's like they know that this is a thing that has torpedoed seasons in the past. Right now, they've got that projected starting five, if you count Steen as the right guard, and Fred Johnson, and that's it. So they have work to do. They're not going to enter the draft, I think, with just those six guys, obviously. Do you think that they will be in a hurry to add a starting caliber offensive linemen to this roster in free agency? No, not in free agency.

I think that what they will do is in the draft, and I've been saying this, I think the odds are highest that they would take or the odds are best. best that they would take a right tackle who maybe can swing the right guard, maybe not, but gives them depth there and make Tyler Steen a full-time right guard. I'm expecting Cam Jergins to be the center. And that's what they drafted him to be. He was out of position last year. It's not like Landon Dickerson where he can say he can play guard or center.

Like I think Jurgens was playing guard because they wanted to play him, but he's more of a natural center. So, you know, there's a lot of excitement about Jackson Powers Johnson out of Oregon in the draft, I don't see the Eagles being in the market for a starting center. But I think... What about a starting right guard? Potentially, potentially, but I do think that's more Tyler Steen music and then drafting a right tackle who can potentially swing to right guard.

But I don't think they're going to be in the free agent market, let's say, for a starter at that position. I think there's money, the money, and we're going to get really into this, but the money they have and I expect them to be aggressive and I'm going to have a pay. and I'm going to have a piece in the next 36 hours. It was going to run today on some combine leftovers, but I'm expecting the equals to be aggressive in free agency more so than last year, but I think it's going to be on the defensive side of the ball.

So I really think this is the changing of the center, and the playoff of changing of the guard, is going to be Cam Juergens at center. Well, I mean, I agree. Yeah. I think the concern is right guard because Tyler Stun wasn't able to win that job last year, over Sue Opetta. I think there's a good chance

they will resign SUA, but I think that they need to add somebody there who can, at the very least, compete with Steen on paper. But I think the general takeaway, like moving forward, is Eagles fans have had the luxury

of just knowing that they're going to have a top five offensive line for a very long time. And I would caution thinking that that's going to be as easy as it has been. Because Kelsey is gone. Lane is 34, right?

And, you know, Jordan Mila and Landa Dickerson is a good one-two punch in the left side. It's not like all world. And if Cam Juergens is, like a realistic expectation for Cam Jurgens in his first year as a center is to be league average, right?

At best in his first year playing it. Because he was just okay, as a guard last year, right? Then all of a sudden you say, you don't know what you have a right guard. You've still got lane if he's healthy, but he misses time almost every year if you're lucky.

I think there is like, as much as the Eagles organizationally over-invested at the position and have been planning for this eventuality for a long time, they might still not be ready to turn the page over and continue to have a really,

really good offensive line. No, that's a good point. And I've said this, before you've kind of you and she'll have have had fun with me when I've done this but like Jeff Stoutland who's a terrific offensive line coach

one of the best in the NFL one of the best position coaches in franchise history I don't give him as much like I understand Lane Johnson had to be developed right but like I expect the number four pick in the draft to become a high level

player I expect Landa Dickerson to become a high level player where I really am impressed with Jeff Stoutland is taking someone like Jordan Ayala and turning him into one of the best tackles in the world is when they've had injuries like making this work with a patchwork group and now you're in a situation

where you don't have a future Hall of Famer at Center for the first time in Jeff Stoutland's time with Eagles. Bullets and board material for Kim Jurgens. Yeah, me, that's sure. maybe he is a future hallfamer. And I understand Jason Kelsey didn't always play like a future hallfamer, and he did develop under Stoughtland. But this is going to be a big, this is going to be a big test.

And I don't want, like, it's hyperbole to say, it's like seeing Belchick without Brady, right? That's hyperbole. But the point is, these two have been linked together for so long. His center for 11 years outside of, what, four games in 2014, has been Jason Kelsey. And Jason Kelsey is so important to that group. and the Eagles have been preparing for this, like you said.

They spend these high draft picks on them. They could spend another high traffic on an offensive lineman. They also invest in Statland. He is one of, if not the highest paid position coach in football for a reason. Good point. Good point. And so this is where you say that, all right, let's see Jeff Stoutland work his miracles, or not his miracles, but let's see Jeff Stoutland show why he's so good

because he's going to have Cam Durgan starting there for the first time. he's going to have a right guard who is new to the starting lineup, maybe not new to the team, maybe not new to the NFL, but is new to the starting lineup. And they're going to have to figure this out. There are going to be games next year, presumably that they play without Jason Kelsey and Lane Johnson, right? Lane Johnson's not always on the field throughout the entire season.

That's something that has not been very favorable for, or that's not happened very often for the Eagles, right? Not having those two guys. So I am fascinated to see how that turns out. I think they also probably need a true backup center at some point. There are a couple guys in for agency you might think are potential fits. But I mean, Dickerson can do it in a pinch, right? But they've just, like, we talk about the needs at linebacker and safety and corner

and like maybe a wide receiver. But like offensive line, and I think they will view as a real priority. is offseason. In free agency? In the roster building, whether that is in the draft or not or in free agency. Yeah, they had a few.

I mean, it might just be bringing back Opeta and Driscoll, right? And they had a few future signings that like they made an investment, for instance, is it Darien Kinnard, who was a draft pick for the chiefs. They brought him in.

Like, you know, I heard that was the guy that they liked. They brought Brackler, Raven Clark, gives them some experience there. Don't give me La Raven Clark. I mean, nice guy, but... They're not burning a roster spot and bonus on. Like, this is someone in terms of offensive line debt.

No, I'm saying offensive line depth. There's a reason why that they brought Knaar in. There's a reason why... Yeah, I mean, I liked Karnard coming out too, but he was on the chiefs all year long, and they didn't want to resign him as a futures guy. Like, he was available for a reason. Let's be clearheaded about this.

Those are guys who are on the roster, but... Yeah, I'm saying that this is part of their, like, I would tell you, if you spoke to people in that building, they probably view Dary and Karnar as part of, like, the dart throws at offensive line. Okay, part of the dart throws. That's fine. Yeah. Yeah.

But. So you want them to what's assigned a Kevin Zitler type? Like that's what I'm trying to figure out. No, I think they need to sign someone with starting experience. Maybe that is Opeta, you know? Okay. But right now, yeah, they cannot enter training camp or the draft with Darren Kinnard as their number seven offensive linemen. Well, no, I expect their first round pick to presumably be an offensive line.

Well, I said enter the draft. I don't think they can afford to do that. I don't know about that. I don't think that they need to operate with this huge urgency of filling out the depth on the offensive line in March and April. I disagree. Okay. Yeah. I think they disagree too.

Okay. I would be shocked if they. don't sign someone with starting experience. I would be shocked. I don't want to use the term shocks. That'll be a bite here. I'm including Opetta and Driscoll here. Yeah.

Okay. Like if they bring back one of those guys, that's fine. But I'm saying they're not going to throw any like real financial commitment to a backup offensive lineman. It would surprise me if they did that. You would be surprised if the Philadelphia Eagles under Howie Roseman invest in the offensive line. All right. you are twisting my words there.

The investment in the offensive line is the starting five. It's the, it's drafting and developing. But I don't think they're, they're going to sign like a 31 year old with starting experience to be back. Well, now you're twisting my words. I haven't,

I haven't said that either. So if they bring back a Drisco or Opeta, I get that. What I'm saying is on their list of, of where they're going to allocate resources, in terms of free agency, my guess is it's heavily focused on the defensive side of the ball. Well, speaking of resources, what are the cap ramifications of the Kelsey retirement?

Yeah, so the way the contract structured and shout out to Jason Fitzgerald at overthecap.com, he's been over this. It was structured for this to be a post-June 1st retirement. So even if the announcements today, the bookkeeping on this won't be until post-June 1st. Bookkeeping, classic one of the only words in the English language with back-to-back K's. I did not know that. Okay, Joy is nodding her head. She's very impressed.

She's done some trivia at some point. Yeah. The bookkeeping on this will not really go into effect until post June 1st. Also, Sam Decker. Thanks for adding that in while it was a mid-sentence. I would love to see what your response would be if I said, and Sim Decker while you were in the middle making a point. So they can spread this cap.

But like, look, if it was applied today, there would be a cap hit of, of like, 27 million or something like that. That's obviously prohibitive. This was designed for this to be post-June first. They can spread that out. Essentially, based on my understanding, there will be like a cap savings. Like, there's still a cap hit, but there's going to be a cap savings of about $2.5 million. Okay. Yeah.

So material. Material, yes. Maybe enough to sign a offensive line with starting experience. Yes. Okay. If I can ask you one quick thing here, to circle back to the initial conversation. Like,

what do you think is on Jason Kelsey's mind when he gets home tonight? There's always, there's an, like shout out to Vince, who works here, who helps run the place that, you know, we talk about the West Wing.

The last scene of the West Wing is Jed Bartlett on a, inauguration day. And, you know, Santos just took over. And he's flying back to New Hampshire and he's looking out the window. And his wife says, says, what are you thinking about?

And he says tomorrow, right? Like, what's going to? Poignant. It's an amazing seed. It's a terrific kicker to. That's that sorkinism, baby. Well, actually, Sorkin wasn't involved by then.

Okay. Yeah. But, yeah, but they were trying to channel him. I mean, they could be so lucky. Sorkin's incredible.

But what do you think is on Jason Kelsey's mind? what do I think is on his mind? Or like the come down when he gets home tonight? I think, um, I think tonight he's going to be, he's going to try to,

like, dive into the kids and try to just be very present with the kids. Answering text? Maybe once the kids have gone to bed. Okay. A lot of text to answer. A lot of text to answer. You probably need your laptop out for that.

Yeah. It's hard to do that all in the phone. For you. Okay. He read his whole speech on his phone. That's true. It seems pretty comfortable working on the phone as the primary thing. Yeah, I think he's probably some reticence about what is to come.

But, you know, he also, he has a lot of opportunities, I'm sure. That's true. I don't know. I think, you know, he and Kylie will have a nice little toast tonight. There you go. Not at 789, which closed in six months. Well, yeah, that was very funny. The Todd Harriman's or it was 879.

879 yes yeah um my uh my kids whenever they're facing a uh like a scary situation they say and we're in the car they they say put on the jason kelsey song uh you know the cape yeah which is the cape by guy clark um and so my son was all about leaps of faith because we we talk about that so um there's a uh you know that it's kind of like the end of that song here is that now he's taking this leap of faith at another stuff. age of his life. Well said. And now my last question to you, when is the last time that you cried? I have an emotional side for sure. I mean, I just, I'd rather not get into it. That's not why people tuned on, but, or between the day. I strongly disagree with the people who are still here

watching this episode. They would love to know the last time you cried. Yeah, I wrote, you know, I, there's a lot of times when like I go back and I read old emails from, you know, people, my family or or specific moments in my life or yeah right i i have a whole uh i have a jump drive of videos sometimes i go back and watch um from my growing up so oh that's sweet yeah stuff like that or you know there's yeah yeah so i would say i'm just glad i want you to be emotionally healthy i'm glad that you're letting it out that's important well just not on the show i mean on on the show my objection is uh is my objective is to provide good content and we are we have a lot of i think you could learn from jason kelsey that's

The people appreciate you being your authentic self. Well, my authentic self during these next few days is really going to be diving into free agency and the roster building. And all that goes into what the 20, 24 Eagles will look like. Let's hash this out on the show right now. Should we do the show we were originally going to do today, workshopping the quackatology bracket on the show tomorrow

and then do quackatology in two parts on Wednesday, Thursday? Or should we go right into it tomorrow? Let's probably go right into it tomorrow. Okay. Yeah, if you're okay making the bracket. I'm okay, we're both going to write tonight. Sure. So that there's a little bit more than to do.

So let's hash it out tomorrow and we have time. We might need to truncate the quackatology into two days. The only thing that would throw us off is if there's a Fletcher Cox decision in the. And by the way, talk about a tough act to follow. What if poor Fletcher Cox wants to retire this week and is like, you couldn't have let me go first, Jason? I would say we have over here. We can't see it in this frame. but we have the third chair over here.

Sure. Fletcher, if you want your time, man, that chair can go right over there. And we can give you an hour to talk about, I mean, Bo can make you cry if you want. We can talk about your great memories. We can talk about all these times over the years. You are invited to, now you can, of course, do it on the podium at the team facility if you like. They probably invited him to. What I'm saying, but that's a tough act to follow.

Yeah, no, I agree. Yeah. here on PHLY. Just throwing that out there. Yeah. It feels like he almost has to go the opposite way. Like if he just has to send like a one sentence email. Thanks for the memories.

So you. Fletch out. Yeah. Fletch out. Yeah. Fletch out. Yeah. Stout out.

Yeah. I like that. Yeah. All right. That'll do it for this episode of the Ph.L.Y. Eagles podcast, the Jason Kelsey episode, I believe, looks like our highest rated episode of all time. So that's very exciting for all of us here at PHLY.

We will be back tomorrow diving into free agency. Check out that top 100 list on all pHLY.com as your homework for tomorrow's episode. We will get into that in just in the guts of it tomorrow. So lots to talk about as we are one week away from the official beginning of the tampering period. By the way, Travis Kelsey there today. Is that like tampering? No. Do you think Howie's like, yeah, come on.

No. First time, he's under contract. He's only going to play for Andy Reed. And, hey, really nice that he came, by the way. Like, you can see how genuine that relationship. What? It would have been, it's less nice that he came, and it would have been more ridiculous if he didn't come.

It's his brother. I don't think there's an expectation that your brother comes to your retirement ceremony. I think so, yeah. I don't think so. No, Travis is, I mean, where's Taylor Swift performing right now? I don't know the answer to that, but somewhere overseas, he could be, he could be just got a lot more concerts. There's only one time your brother retires. Yeah, I just thought, and Travis is a crier too.

I mean, he was tearing off throughout that whole thing. He's wearing sunglasses. Cut the sunglasses on. Yeah. Yeah, I wish I had done that. So you got to do the thing where I was like, I'm like holding my hand on my cheek like this so that I can just sort of subtly wipe away a tear. And it's like, I didn't know how to. I get a little pinky here.

At the beginning of the thing, I try not to sniffle, but like every now and then, just, you know, just got to pretend like it's a swipe. You get that. I was having a hard time

between the videoing, the tweeting and the notekeeping. Right? Yeah, so the videoing I decided, I started in the very beginning. There's enough people taking videos. It's also,

it feels, you become distant from the moment. I want it to be present for the moment itself. That's why, That's why I felt the empathy for Jason. So, yeah, I put down the videoing after a minute and a half and brought it back when he was officially announcing the retirement.

I wasn't tweeting as much as I typically did. I was keeping notes or things that I wanted to kind of bring up on the show. But I was really just listening. And today I'll remember. There you go. The day we will all remember. And that'll do it, I guess. So once again, for all of us here at PHLY,

for the good folks at Miller Light and Game Time and Mortgage CS. We thank you for watching and listening. We will talk to you tomorrow at noon. And as always, we love you.