Jason Kelce's Wife Kylie Gets Candid About His Retirement Speech

Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce officially ended his 13-year NFL career with a heart-wrenching retirement speech. He left his fans, teammates, and family members in attendance in tears with his emotional words.

Jason and his brother Travis recounted the event on their New Heights podcast. Travis said his speech was "one for the ages, ladies and gentlemen. If you haven't seen it, grab a box of Kleenex before you do it. The guy pored his heart out, as he does every single time talking about the things that he loves. It was beautiful to see how grateful you are and the memories that you've gathered over the years with the people who have gotten you to this point in your life."

Jason explained, "A lot of the things that I said and shared are things that I wanted to share for a long time. A lot of those things are notes that I've compiled throughout my career. It felt good to finally get it out there, in some ways. It's still hard, and it hurts...I was hoping that I had said it enough times that I wouldn't cry as much as I did. I think it's good to show emotion through it, but I was sobbing before I even started."

Despite his emotions, Jason explained that he feels like he made the right decision. He said, "He had experienced some "deterioration" in his elbow and knee and was having a hard time recovering: "I'm hard on myself. If I go out there and I'm not the player that I want to be, it will crush me. I feel very confident in my decision. I know that it's time. I had a really good run."

Travis said Jason "definitely set the tone for the entire family, let alone everyone listening." But for Jason's wife, Kylie, this wasn't the first time she heard Jason's impassioned words.

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Kylie opened up about Jason's retirement speech in a conversation with NBC 10 Philadelphia. She said, "I think I was the only one that had heard the speech before he went into it. I think it was just a perfect summary of 13 years. It was an incredible run he had as a player in the NFL."

Jason had contemplated retiring for several seasons, as he revealed in his Kelce documentary on Prime Video, so his wife had heard him practice a speech before. She said, "I’ve heard multiple versions over the last four years. This was a completely different version. I think every year he sort of started from scratch as to what was sitting on the surface. But when he said that he was contemplating retirement for years, he means for years."

Kylie continued, "The outpouring of love and support is expected because I know who my husband is and the way he has conducted himself and how that has touched the lives of people. But at the same time, it’s still shocking."

What's next for Jason? Thanks to the success of his podcast, Jason said he has some opportunities for his next step. On New Heights, Travis said, as he wiped away tears, "I'm so proud of you, you've got the ***ing world in your palm, and you've got three little ones that I know you're dying to watch grow up. There are a lot of exciting future things that we have to look forward to."

Jason explained, "It's a new chapter. I'm incredibly excited about what could happen and also nervous about what life is going to look like now."