What Travis Kelce said about Jason Kelce’s retirement on their podcast

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce got emotional while addressing his brother Jason Kelce’s retirement and thanking him for his example during Wednesday’s episode of the “New Heights” podcast.

Jason Kelce, the Philadelphia Eagles’ longtime center, announced his retirement Monday in a tearful, heartfelt press conference, which featured several tributes to his family, as the Deseret News previously reported.

What did Travis Kelce say about Jason Kelce’s retirement?

Halfway through Wednesday’s episode, which was filmed the day after the press conference, Travis Kelce got choked up and admitted he wasn’t ready for his brother to walk away from the game, so he didn’t give his opinion when Jason Kelce was weighing retirement.

“I wanted to make sure you didn’t feel any pressure from me to keep going, knowing I wanted you to keep going. I wanted you to keep playing this game,” he said.

The more he spoke, the more emotional he got. He wiped his tears on the Jason Kelce shirt he was wearing.

“You’ve always been a step ahead of me, and it’s always been like I’ve had that flotation device right there,” Travis Kelce said. “To have you out of it, it feels empty and it feels like it’s complete. It was a success. It was a fun (expletive) journey to watch, and like I said yesterday, man, I just appreciate you showing me the way and bringing us all along the journey with you, big guy.”

Jason Kelce then reminded his brother that he isn’t going anywhere.

“We showed each other the way,” he said. “I appreciate it. Listen, I’m out of playing, but I’m still going to the games. Like I said, you’ve been playing for a long time on your own and I look forward to being able to appreciate and watch your games more and take in the bigger picture of football and everything it has to offer while still remaining local in Philadelphia.”

This upcoming season will be the first time the brothers aren’t both active in the NFL since Travis Kelce was drafted in 2013.

“It was cool being the tag-team of the National Football League,” Travis Kelce said. “I couldn’t have been more proud listening to you yesterday. It’s been a lot of emotions — a lot of sad emotions, a lot of exciting emotions. I mean, you got the (expletive) world in your palm right now, dude, and you’ve got three little ones that I know you’re dying to watch grow up.”

What’s next for Jason Kelce?

Jason Kelce is still finalizing the next step of his career, but he is looking to stay involved in football and is excited to try non-football ventures, like learning how to make his own knife and returning to his ice hockey roots by skating with his daughters, he said on “New Heights.”

“Obviously, I’m not going to be a full-time coach, but is there a level that I can help out the team still or help out young guys?” he said. “I look forward to doing stuff that’s not football.”

Broadcasting could also be in his future with the success of his podcast. While in Las Vegas to watch his brother in the Super Bowl, he met with ESPN and Fox about a potential broadcasting career, Front Office Sports reported.

Will Jason Kelce unretire?

Don’t expect the Pro Bowl center to come out of retirement as a late season signing in hopes of earning a second Super Bowl ring. On “New Heights,” Jason Kelce admitted he’s considered it but said he would feel guilty waiting around for someone to get injured.

“I could still probably play a couple games like, ‘Do I just sit around and wait til playoffs start?’ because a lot of guys do that and more power to them,” he said. “That was something I thought about but definitely not doing it, and I look forward to getting skinny.”

Is Jason Kelce the best Philadelphia Eagles player?

Jason Kelce went from the Eagles misspelling his last name when the team announced they had drafted him to being the “greatest player to ever play in an Eagles uniform,” as Travis Kelce called him.

“I firmly like that most of my career had to be earned,” Jason Kelce said. “It is crazy how overrated I am. Listen to me, dude, I’m not even close to the best Eagle in my time with the Philadelphia Eagles, like (there’s) Fletcher Cox, Jason Peters, Lane Johnson. Just listen to me for a second. There’s so many people that have meant more to wins and losses and have been better players. ... But I do know that the credit that I’ve gotten has been because of the work that’s been put in. They didn’t know how to spell my name then, but they know how to spell it now and I like the fact that they didn’t know how to spell it back then.”