When you’re a young center and you play for the Eagles, there’s only one person to study. Only one person to emulate. Only one person to aspire to.
Jason Kelce casts a long shadow at the NovaCare Complex, at the Linc and throughout the city of Philadelphia. With apologies to Jim Otto, Mike Webster and Dwight Stephenson, he may have been the greatest center to ever play the game.
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WATCH HEREDrew Kendall is just getting started on his NFL career. He’s the Eagles’ rookie center from Boston College, a 5th-round pick whose dad Pete played 13 NFL seasons and retired two years before Kelce was a rookie.
And he’s been paying attention.
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SIGN UP “I grew up (and) that was my favorite tape to watch, my favorite center to watch growing up was Jason Kelce,” Kendall said. “So I'm very familiar. He did amazing, incredible things here. So it's a very special building, a very special place to play center. So I take that with a lot of honor.”
Kendall is realistically a longshot, but Kelce was the 191st player taken in 2010, and Kendall was the 168th so you never know.
Kelce was actively involved in the Eagles selecting Cam Jurgens in the second round in 2022, and he’s now a Pro Bowl center. Kendall is in the mix to back up Jurgens.
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He's got a long way to go to continue that lineage of great Eagles centers, but he’s clearly studied the right guy.
“I loved the way he pulled, got out in space and really attacked the second level,” Kendall said of Kelce. “He got on the second level really fast and really stressed the linebackers. So I thought that was really good and that really made the run game go.
“So that was a really special thing that he did.”
As the son of a long-time NFL player, Kendall is acutely familiar with the history of the game and understands just how impactful Kelce was, how influential. At 295 pounds, Kelce was the 2nd-smallest center in the NFL by the end of his career (Coleman Shelton of the Rams is 285). But his intelligence, athleticism and understanding of leverage made up for the size difference NFL interior linemen had.
“In my lifetime, probably the most influential center there's been playing in the National Football League,” Kendall said. “What he did in Philly was incredible. Just such a great talent and such a great guy. So just watching him on film and watching him in his press conferences, he's just a standup guy. He's definitely changed the game.”
The other interior lineman Kendall learned from was his dad, a 1st-round pick in 1996 who played for the Seahawks, Cards, Jets and Washington.
Drew Kendall was born during the 2001 season, so Pete was already six years into his career at that point. But by the end of his career, Drew was old enough to pay attention.
“It was cool,” he said of having an NFL dad. “It was really special. I kind of learned from a young age what it's like to play in the NFL. Obviously not my own perspective. I was 7, but learning from my dad and seeing how he was approaching his everyday life, what it takes to be a pro. I was able to learn that from a young age and growing up you always want to be like your dad, right? So seeing that and seeing that at a young age, it was really special.
“And that was kind of where my dreams started. I still remember a lot of the days when I was 7. So looking back, standing at FedEx Field on the sideline before a game, it was special. I was very blessed to be in that position from a young age.”
Kendall started 188 games between 1996 and 2008, and only two offensive linemen - Hall of Famer Kevin Mawae and long-time Eagle Jon Runyan – started more during that span.
And there’s a lesson there, too.
“He played for, I think it was 13 seasons, but that doesn't happen by accident,” he said. “He was a pro taking care of his body, making sure he was ready to go every Sunday and for every practice.”
