Last game for Jason Kelce? Eagles center emotional on sideline in final moments of playoff loss to Buccaneers

Jason Kelce is going to go down as one of the greatest Philadelphia Eagles players of all-time. But losing by 23 points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC wild card round and dropping six of their last seven games after a 10-1 start is not how any player should go out. 

That may be the case for Kelce, who was emotional in the final seconds of Monday’s 32-9 loss to the Buccaneers. Kelce has been contemplating retirement for a few years, usually letting his body decide his fate in March. 

This exchange with Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland may have said it all. (Kelce declined to speak with reporters after the game.)

“I think it’s been natural the last three seasons for that for me,” Kelce said Friday. “Whenever you’re older in your career, you never know when that’s going to be. 

“I try to remind guys and my dad has told me this from the moment I started playing football — you step off the curb one day and that could be the end of your career. So you try to approach every game with that mindset, but obviously the closer and the older you get to that being a realization, puts it out in front maybe a little bit more.”

“But obviously that’s not the main thing. The main thing is going out there and battling with each of the guys in this locker room.”

Kelce still had an excellent season regardless of how the Eagles played down the stretch. He has allowed just one sack and 12 pressures on the year, with a pressure rate per dropback of 1.9%. This coming off a career year, allowing zero sacks, eight pressures, and a 1.3% pressure rate allowed per dropback. 

Kelce was selected as a first-team All-Pro for the sixth time this season, becoming the only center since the merger to earn six first-team All-Pro selections and win a Super Bowl title. Kelce is a first-team All-Pro at his position for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, just the fifth center in NFL history with that many All-Pro selections. 

The other four (Jim Otto, Bulldog Turner, Dermotti Dawson, Jim Ringo) are in the Hall of Fame. Of the 54 players in NFL history that have earned six or more first-team All-Pro selections, all of them are in the Hall of Fame (Aaron Donald, Zack Martin, and Bobby Wagner are still active). 

Kelce will be next when he actually does decide to retire. A decision may be coming soon.