Jason Kelce

Jason Kelce - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Jason Kelce

Jason Daniel Kelce ( KEL-see; born November 5, 1987) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 13-year career as a center with the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Kelce played college football for the Cincinnati Bearcats and was selected by the Eagles in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL draft. He won Super Bowl LII, was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, and six-time first-team All-Pro selection. Kelce is consistently ranked among one of the greatest centers in NFL history.

This profile of Jason Kelce covers Early Life and Family Background, Career and Rise to Fame, Professional Career, Other ventures and Personal Life.

Outside of football, Kelce and his brother, Travis, co-host the podcast New Heights, on which they discuss their playing careers and various other topics. In 2024, Kelce joined ESPN's Monday Night Countdown pregame crew.

Early Life and Family Background of Jason Kelce

Jason Daniel Kelce was born in Greenville, North Carolina, and grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, to Ed Kelce, a sales representative in the steel business, and Donna (née Blalock), who works in banking. He is the older brother of Travis Kelce, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs. In their January 2025 podcast, the Kelce brothers revealed their partial Croatian background; two of their maternal great-grandmother and grandmother were born to parents of Croatian descent. But another maternal great-grandmother, Helen Henrietta Sadlowski, was born to Polish immigrants, while a maternal great-grandfather named Frank Petranck was born to Czech immigrants.

Jason attended Cleveland Heights High School, where he played both running back and linebacker and was twice named All-Lake Erie League. At Cleveland Heights, he played baritone saxophone in the symphonic and jazz bands. Kelce also played hockey and lacrosse in high school.

Career and Rise to Fame of Jason Kelce

A former walk-on running back, Kelce switched to fullback and then finally to offensive line after redshirting his initial year at the University of Cincinnati (UC), seeing action at center and guard in nine games in 2007 as the Bearcats went 10–3 and defeated Southern Mississippi 31–21 in the PapaJohns.com Bowl.

As a sophomore in 2008, he made 13 starts at left guard, as part of an offensive line that also included future NFL linemen Jeff Linkenbach and Trevor Canfield, which helped the UC offense average 27.3 points and 375.3 yards of total offense per game. The Bearcats went 11–3 overall, were Big East Conference champions, and played in the FedEx Orange Bowl, where the Bearcats fell to Virginia Tech 20–7. In 2008, his brother, Travis, began playing alongside him at Cincinnati.

In 2009, Kelce earned second-team All-Big East honors after starting 13 games at left guard as the Bearcats went undefeated in the regular season (12–0) and were again Big East Champions, once again earning a BCS Bowl berth, losing to Florida 51–24 in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

He was moved to center for his senior season in 2010 as the Bearcats went 4–8 under new coach Butch Jones. He started the final 38 games of his 47-game Bearcats career, 26 at left guard and 12 at center. He was named Honorable Mention All-America and second-team All-Big East.

Professional Career

Despite lacking true NFL size, Kelce was projected a fourth round pick. He ran the fastest 40-yard dash time of all offensive linemen at the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine, with a 4.89-second time. On March 11, 2011, Kelce had an appendectomy after he was diagnosed with appendicitis.

Kelce was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round (191st overall) of the 2011 NFL draft. Kelce was unable to practice or sign a contract until the NFL lockout was lifted on July 25, 2011. He signed a four-year contract on July 27. New offensive line coach Howard Mudd envisioned Kelce as in the mold of Indianapolis Colts five-time Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday, whom Mudd coached in Indianapolis for 11 seasons. First-round pick and fellow rookie Danny Watkins compared Kelce to a hedgehog due to his spiky hair and facial hair, in addition to his quickness and stoutness. Kelce battled incumbent starter Jamaal Jackson for the center job early in training camp in August. Kelce received all of the first-team reps in the week before the team's third preseason game. He started in the third preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, and allowed a sack and was penalized for holding. Kelce was named the starter for the season on August 29. He became the first rookie in Eagles history to start all 16 games at center.

In 2012, Kelce was named the starting center for the second consecutive year. On September 16, he suffered a partially torn MCL and a torn ACL in a win over the Baltimore Ravens. Kelce would miss the rest of the 2012 season. In the 2013 season, Kelce started all 16 games. The Eagles reached the playoffs, and set team season records of 442 points and 6,676 yards. He led the way for the NFL's leading rusher, LeSean McCoy, who rushed for 1,607 yards. Kelce was graded by Pro Football Focus (PFF) as the best center in the NFL for the season. He was also honored with the Ed Block Courage Award.

On February 27, 2014, Kelce agreed to a six-year, $37.5 million contract extension, with $13 million guaranteed, according to agent Jason Bernstein. On September 23, Kelce underwent surgery for a sports hernia and missed four games. Despite missing time, he was selected to his first Pro Bowl. He followed his 2014 Pro Bowl campaign by starting in all 16 games in 2015. He was graded by PFF as the 7th-ranked center in the NFL. The next season, he started in all 16 games and was selected to his second Pro Bowl.

In 2017, Kelce started in all 16 games and had his best season as a professional. He was selected as a First-team All-Pro and was the highest rated offensive lineman by PFF. He also won Run Blocker of the Year by PFF. He won Super Bowl LII with the Eagles, defeating the New England Patriots 41–33. During the Eagles' Super Bowl parade on February 8, 2018, Kelce garnered national attention after giving an impassioned speech where he defended his teammates, coaches, and front office and compared Eagles fans to hungry dogs who "for 52 years have been starved of this championship," while dressed as a mummer. In 2018, Kelce was given his second First-team All-Pro honor.

On March 2, 2019, Kelce signed a one-year contract extension with the Eagles through the 2021 season. During the 2019 season, Kelce was elected to his third Pro Bowl and received his third straight First-team All-Pro Honor. In 2020, Kelce started his 100th straight game with the Eagles. The offensive line saw a franchise-record 14 different starting combinations, but Kelce was the lone man to start every game. He was elected to his 4th Pro Bowl, and was one of the eight finalists for the Art Rooney Award in 2020.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Kelce), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.