Eagles' Jason Kelce Admits Losing Super Bowl Influenced His Return

Kelce admits losing Super Bowl factored into decision to return originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Last summer when Travis Kelce joined his big brother Jason in Sea Isle City to tend bar for charity, Travis said something to the crowd that didn’t really hit home for Jason until he went through it himself.

Travis told the crowd that losing a Super Bowl makes you want to win one even more.

During a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, Jason said he wasn’t sure if Travis was just playing to the crowd last summer. But after the Eagles lost Super Bowl LVII, Jason personally understood that hunger to get back and win one.

And he admitted that the loss in the Super Bowl factored into his decision to return for the 2023 season.

“I do think it played a factor,” Kelce said to Eisen. “I don’t think it should. I wish it didn’t. But I do think when you get that far and you get that close and it doesn’t happen, your emotions and your energy get going and you want to do that. You know it’s close and you know the team is going to be good next year as long as everybody stays healthy. We’re returning a lot of pieces on offense. That all plays a factor. If it was a different situation, I don’t know what the answer would be. I still think I would play.”

Kelce, 35, signed another one-year deal to return with the Eagles in 2023, which will be his 13th season in the NFL. After the last few seasons, the all-time great has considered retirement.

But Kelce played extremely well in 2022, being named to another Pro Bowl team and earning another All-Pro nod. The Eagles were happy to welcome him back for another season on a one-year deal worth over $14 million.

Kelce said the best bit of advice he’s gotten the last few years as he contemplates his future has come from his offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, who has told him simply: When you don’t want to play anymore, don’t play.

While Kelce said he can’t foresee a day when he doesn’t want to play football, he knows Stoutland is talking about the day when Kelce no longer wants to put the work in to be great. Kelce pointed out that center — along with quarterback, linebacker and safety — is one of the positions in football where your calls can influence the way other players play. And if you’re not willing to put in the time in the meeting room and film room, then it’s probably time to hang it up.

“Are you willing to make that commitment again?” Kelce said. “And if you’re not and you don’t want to make that commitment and you don’t want to play football like that, don’t do it. I was still in a position where I felt like for another year I wanted to do that. And I do think losing the Super Bowl does play a factor. But I think ultimately, I want to play football. I still love that aspect. I love game-planning with Jalen Hurts and our offensive coordinator now, Brian Johnson, I’m sure it’s going to be a blast. Nick Sirianni, Jeff Stoutland. That’s some of the most fun I have during the week.”

Kelce said he doesn’t wear his Super Bowl LII ring often. It’s clunky, it hurts his other fingers and it’s pretty obnoxious. But it’s a symbol of what that 2017 team accomplished and it still hurts knowing the 2022 team wasn’t able to win one.

That feeling hasn’t left.

“Going all that way, having the season we did and then losing it is such a crushing feeling,” Kelce said. “And next year’s team, even though we’re going to have Jalen Hurts, we’re going to have some other people back, have Nick Sirianni back, it’s never going to be the same. It’s always a little bit different. So for that team to not have that finality, it sucks. It does.”

Kelce knows this 2023 team will be a little different but knows they’re still contenders. They return most of their starters on his side of the ball, including the best quarterback in the conference. And all those returning players are likely feeling that same hunger as Kelce after getting so close.

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