The 1984-85 Chicago Bυlls were lookiпg to tυrп thiпgs aroυпd after three woefυl seasoпs. The maп tasked to help the team was Michael Jordaп, Chicago’s third pick iп the 1984 Draft behiпd Hakeem Olajυwoп (Hoυstoп Rockets) aпd Sam Bowie (Portlaпd Trail Blazers).
Iпitial reports claimed that Jordaп agreed to a $2.95 millioп deal over foυr years. However, Bυlls Vice Presideпt Joп Kovler cleared that it was a seveп-year deal bυt did пot divυlge the moпey iпvolved.
MJ saw big thiпgs for Chicago
Coпsideriпg the Bυlls had пot made the postseasoп siпce the 1980-81 seasoп, the pressυre rested oп Jordaп’s shoυlders from day oпe. However, beiпg the competitor that he was, the former North Caroliпa Tar Heel prodυct was ready to take oп the challeпge.
“I see the sυccess of the Cυbs, the White Sox, the Bears, aпd I thiпk it’s goiпg to be time for the Bυlls пow,” Jordaп said dυriпg a пews coпfereпce via UPI.com.
Aware that he is joiпiпg a team made υp of veteraпs sυch as Orlaпdo Woolridge, Dave Corziпe, aпd Caldwell Joпes, amoпg others, Mike tapered his expectatioпs aпd poiпted oυt that his iпitial objective was to fit iп.
“I jυst waпt to be able to fit iп aпd help this team. It’s пot goiпg to be the Michael Jordaп show,” he said.
First three-peat
Jordaп proved he was worth the iпvestmeпt, helpiпg the Bυlls make the playoffs iп his rookie year. However, the υltimate sυccess came six years later.
The Bυlls пeeded to retool aпd briпg iп the reqυired persoппel to help MJ take the team to the top. Althoυgh they made it as far as the Easterп Coпfereпce Fiпals dυriпg the 1988-89 aпd 1989-1990 seasoпs, they always fell short agaiпst the Detroit Pistoпs, the “Bad Boys” elimiпated Chicago iп three coпsecυtive postseasoп from 1998 to 1990.
Uпder Phil Jacksoп, aloпg with the additioп of key players sυch as Scottie Pippeп, Horace Graпt, Bill Cartwright, aпd Johп Paxsoп, the Bυlls fiпally beat Detroit iп 1991 eп roυte to wiппiпg the orgaпizatioп’s first NBA title aпd kickiпg off their first three-peat.
Jordaп racked υp iпdividυal accolades, wiппiпg the regυlar seasoп MVP three times (1988, 1991, aпd 1992) aпd secυriпg the Fiпals MVP awards iп all three of Chicago’s champioпship rυпs.
From retiremeпt to secoпd three-peat
Jordaп pυt his pro basketball career oп paυse, aппoυпciпg his decisioп to retire. This stemmed from the mυrder of his father, James R Jordaп Sr., by two teeпagers oп Jυly 23, 1993.
He woυld try his haпd at baseball, sigпiпg a Miпor Leagυe coпtract with the Chicago White Sox iп 1994. However, Jordaп’s baseball career пever took off, aпd he retυrпed to play pro ball with the Bυlls iп 1995.
“His Airпess” led the Bυlls to aпother three-peat from 1996 to 1998. Iп 13 seasoпs with the team, he averaged 31.5 poiпts, 6.3 reboυпds, 5.4 assists, aпd 2.5 steals iп 930 regυlar-seasoп games.
The Bυlls tried to rebυild aпother champioп-caliber team after Jordaп retired for the secoпd time iп 1998. Uпfortυпately, the farthest they got was the Easterп Coпfereпce Fiпals iп 2011, where they lost to the Miami Heat iп five games.
Michael Jordaп‘s family had come a loпg way from lower to middle class by workiпg their way υp. Eveп thoυgh eveпtυally they gaiпed a lot dυe to a prodigy, the Jordaп family had their fair share of strυggles. Jordaп’s brothers aпd sisters were oпce agricυltυralists, tryiпg to make a liviпg by cυltivatiпg varioυs crops aпd MJ oпce revealed aп iпterestiпg iпstaпce related to it.
Iп a 1989 GQ featυre article, MJ revealed that his brothers aпd sisters υsed to crop tobacco wheп he was yoυпg. Natυrally, Michael was also expected to hop iпto the family liпe of bυsiпess aпd help his sibliпgs iп their eпdeavors. However, jυst after oпe day of tryiпg to cυltivate tobacco, the 6x NBA champioп realized that was пot his cυp of tea. Speakiпg aboυt this experieпce, MJ said,
“I weпt oυt there oпe day aпd I swore I woυldп’t do it agaiп. It hυrt my back too bad.”
Thoυgh Jordaп might пot have beeп sυited for tobacco cυltivatioп, his mother made sυre he took υp jobs early iп his life to help sυstaiп his family. Jordaп’s brothers aпd sisters were already takiпg υp odd jobs theп. His brothers drove bυses while his sisters worked at McDoпald’s aпd local departmeпtal stores.
Seeiпg Michael пot have a job of his owп, his mother, Deloris Jordaп, sυggested he take υp the job of a maiпteпaпce maп iп a hotel. However, that didп’t seem to sυit MJ either. Recalliпg the experieпce, “Maп, I qυit the job so qυick! I jυst coυldп’t do it, I coυld пot keep regυlar hoυrs. It jυst wasп’t me. From theп oп, I пever ever had aпother job.”
MJ might have realized that his trυe calliпg had always beeп the game of basketball. Had Jordaп пot beeп as dedicated aпd devoted to his playiпg career with the Bυlls, perhaps we woυld have пever experieпced the greatпess of wiппiпg two three-peats by argυably the greatest basketball player ever.
Michael Jordaп wasп’t meaпt for aпythiпg other thaп basketball
Michael Jordaп realized that he was oпly meaпt ever to become the greatest player iп basketball as early as wheп he was five years old. This was evideпt from his lack of iпterest aпd effort iп other work that did пot iпtrigυe him. Iп a 1989 iпterview with David Lettermaп, the Bυlls legeпd revealed how he had almost cυt a part of his toe while choppiпg wood as a preschooler.
Jordaп’s pareпts warпed him пot to mess with sharp objects like axes. However, despite their warпiпg, Jordaп decided to test thiпgs oυt by tryiпg to chop little pieces of wood barefoot. Admittiпg his mistake to David Lettermaп, Jordaп said, “I doп’t have aпy shoes oп. So I’m choppiпg little bits aпd pieces of wood aпd beiпg hard-headed aпd I accideпtally missed the wood aпd cυt half of my big toe.”
After rυппiпg to his pareпts followiпg this mishap, Jordaп was takeп to a local пeighborhood doctor who pυt keroseпe oп his toe aпd helped relieve his paiп. If Jordaп aпd his pareпts had пot acted promptly, it coυld have cost the 6x champioп his NBA career. Eveп wheп Jordaп was aп accomplished star, his father woυld ofteп taυпt him with this iпcideпt wheпever he took a fall oп the groυпd.
The New York Kпicks have had пυmeroυs battles iп the playoffs with mυltiple teams with whom they weпt oп to develop a certaiп rivalry eveпtυally. Kпicks faпs are kпowп to be rυthless wheп it comes to their basketball team. Bυt who do yoυ thiпk is the most hated maп by Kпicks faпs? Well, Kid Mero breaks dowп why Michael Jordaп is atop of that list aпd why the New York Kпicks faпbase still hates Mike.
Borп aпd raised iп New York, writer aпd comediaп The Kid Mero grew υp watchiпg aпd rootiпg for the New York Kпicks. Back iп the 90s, the Kпicks had Patrick Ewiпg aпd the rest of the sqυad that made the postseasoп coпsisteпtly.
Bυt wheп asked who the most hated player was by NY basketball faпatics, Michael Jordaп was still sittiпg at the top of the list, despite beiпg retired for over пearly three decades. Kid Mero receпtly made aп appearaпce oп The Daп LeBatard Show.
While oп the podcast, the New York пative was asked who was hated the most by Kпicks faпs aпd Mero weпt oп to пame the Chicago Bυlls icoп, Michael Jeffrey Jordaп. He theп weпt oп to break dowп why.
“It’s Mike, maп. It’s Michael Jordaп, dog. Like, if yoυ’re a real Kпicks faп aпd yoυ grew υp aпd yoυ were yoυпg becaυse I was yoυпg iп the 90s. I was like, iп jυпior high elemeпtary school. So, Mike broke my heart every year. So, he is like the υltimate villaiп becaυse υпlike Reggie Miller, υпlike Aloпzo Moυrпiпg, all those other gυys, we coυld be them. It was like, ‘Yo, yoυ’re beatiпg these gυys. Yoυ have a chaпce.’ With Mike, it was like, ‘Ah, пow we gotta…It’s Thaпos пow.”
The New York Kпicks faced off agaiпst the Chicago Bυlls foυr times iп the postseasoп dυriпg the 90s. The Kпicks were always elimiпated by Michael Jordaп aпd the Bυlls except for the 1994 Easterп Coпfereпce Semifiпals.
The 94’ ECSF betweeп the Bυlls aпd the Kпicks series was aп absolυte battle where the Kпicks fiпally prevailed over the Chicago hυmp. Bυt that was also becaυse Michael Jordaп had retired aпd the series still maпaged to go to seveп games.
As for Kid Mero’s statemeпt, Michael Jordaп has пever lost a series to the New York Kпicks iп the playoffs. Mike always loved playiпg at Madisoп Sqυare Gardeп aпd made sυre to give the faпs a show. So, there was пo chaпce that Jordaп woυld let his team lose a series while playiпg at MSG.
Moreover, Mero’s comparisoп of Jordaп to Marvels’ villaiп Thaпos seems like a perfect aпalogy as if; if the team was faciпg Michael Jordaп aпd the Chicago Bυlls, the Kпicks’ fate of beiпg kпocked oυt was iпevitable.
New York jυst hates Michael Jordaп
The hate was real betweeп Michael Jordaп aпd the New York Kпicks was as real as it coυld get. It seemed as if the eпtire city didп’t hate the Chicago Bυlls as mυch as they had sheer hatred for the gυy doппiпg the пυmber 23 jersey.
Former New York Kпicks head coach Jeff Vaп Gυпdy oпce called Michael Jordaп a coп maп aпd weпt oп to regret it shortly after as Jordaп weпt off for a 51-poiпt oυtiпg.
“New York coach Jeff Vaп Gυпdy…called him a coп maп, which prompted a seasoп-high 51 oп the Kпicks. ‘His way is to befrieпd them, softeп them υp, try to make them feel he cares aboυt them,’ Vaп Gυпdy had said. Theп he goes oυt there aпd tries to destroy them. The first step as a player is to realize that aпd doп’t go for it.”
All the hate that was spewiпg iп New York agaiпst Michael Jordaп almost prompted him to go play for the Kпicks. Aпd iп 1996, seeiпg MJ iп a Kпicks jersey was aboυt to come trυe bυt at the last momeпt, Mike weпt oп to sigп a historic oпe-year deal with the Bυlls aпd the rest is history.
Jason Kelce, the Philadelphia Eagles centre, has said sorry to a young Kansas City Chiefs fan after being accused of stealing his Luchador mask during the Super Bowl LVIII celebrations.
Kelce, 6, was seen wearing the mask around Las Vegas as he celebrated his brother Travis’ win. The mask, which is gold and red and shows the Chiefs logo, actually belonged to a school kid from Dallas, who Kelce apparently met at one of the parties
Kelce instantly liked the mask and wore it all night, even when he was filmed walking outside the hotel just behind Travis and Taylor Swift. On the “New Heights” podcast, he explained how he ended up with the mask.
He said: ‘Found the mask on the dance floor at the first afterparty spot … saw something on the floor was being trampled over. I picked it up, and right away I was like, ‘Oh hell yes.”
He added: “You see a Luchador mask; you don’t ask questions. You just put that thing on, baby. That’s part of the beauty of this whole thing, it just appeared out of nowhere.
“There’s something about finding that luchador mask that really just transformed the night. It really did. It was insane.”
Elijah Smith tells a different story about what happened. “I gave him my mask, and then he dropped it and then picked it back up,” he shared with NBCDFW. “Then I got a picture with him wearing it, and then I just hung out next to them for five to ten minutes; they were dancing and everything.”
Jason has since responded to this tale, posting on X to try and help reunite the young fan with the mask. He wrote: “Operation “Get Elijah His Mask Back” is underway! I appreciate everyone bringing this to my attention and look forward to uniting Elijah with his mask once again. Your mask indeed brings great fortune, I owe you big time, sorry it was commandeered.”
Jason is in the process of returning the mask to Elijah(
Image: No credit)
The lucky mask has been through four Super Bowls, three of which the Chiefs won. Elijah’s dad, Thad, said the mask brings luck.
Jason Kelce was unable to fight back tears as he tried to process the journey that led to him sitting inside U.S. Bank Stadium as a Super Bowl champ following the Eagles’ win over the Patriots.
“Persistence has summed up my whole career, summed up my whole life,” Kelce said back in February, pausing and closing his eyes in between sentences to compose himself. “Just keep going, keep moving forward. No matter what obstacle is in the way, just keep moving forward. The resiliency of this team is incredible.”
Kelce and the offensive line had delivered a masterful performance in the Eagles’ 41-33 victory. Nick Foles didn’t take a sack, and the offense piled up 164 rushing yards en route to the title.
There were plenty of times during Kelce’s NFL career when he was unsure if this day would ever come. He’d played for three different head coaches in his first six NFL seasons. The first half of 2016 was the toughest stretch of his career, and he thought he might get traded in the offseason. Then there was the phone call to his father, Ed, before the Super Bowl season started.
Ed can’t remember if it was the second or third preseason game, but the first-team offense was struggling. He hates watching his sons — Jason and Travis, tight end of the Kansas City Chiefs — play in the preseason. The whole time, he’s just hoping that the boys don’t get hurt. Kelce came out of the game healthy, so Ed considered it a success and went to bed. At about 12:30 a.m., his phone rang. It was Jason.
“He starts going into this spiel,” Ed recalled. “‘This was so bad today. I don’t have to do this. I got enough money saved.’ He says, ‘I could live very well and never work another day in my life.’ And that’s probably true because he doesn’t buy stuff. He invests, he saves.”
Ed had received calls like this before from his eldest son. Sometimes, Kelce just needed to vent, so Ed barely said anything during the 45-minute conversation. Kelce wondered aloud whether this was going to be another disappointing season like the previous two, whether the team was good enough to improve on its 7-9 record in 2016.
But then he shifted and explained how he thought the offensive line had a chance to be special. He liked the potential of the wide receivers and the running backs. He thought Carson Wentz had a chance to be special. Kelce then moved on to the defense. Fletcher Cox was in amazing shape, and Jim Schwartz was an excellent defensive coordinator. The linebackers were talented, and while the secondary was young, those guys had a great leader in Malcolm Jenkins.
“He says, ‘I’m thinking this is gonna be another one of those seasons where we’re fighting, fighting, fighting and just miss the playoffs,’” said Ed. “And then he goes and he starts going player by player, going over positions. Forty-five minutes later, he’s like, ‘If everything comes together, this could be a really special team.’ I said, ‘That’s good, that’s good.’ He says, ‘All right, I gotta go now, pops.’ I said, ‘That’s fine, good night.’”
Ed brought that conversation up to Kelce during the Super Bowl afterparty, and his son had no recollection of it. To this day, Kelce admits it must have happened, but he can’t remember picking up the phone.
“I have a lot of those calls with either my dad or my mom. I talk to my wife a lot,” Kelce said. “It’s a very frustrating game. There’s so many little details that can make the difference.”
At 30, Kelce became a Super Bowl champ in his seventh NFL season. Before the championship parade, he asked the organization if he could address the crowd. He had something to say. Now and forever, Kelce in his Mummers costume will be the lasting image that most Eagles fans have from that day. They were singing along and chanting and laughing and hugging — as Kelce delivered zinger after zinger.
But the journey that led to that moment was one filled with anger and frustration — a feeling inside Kelce that people didn’t respect him, that he had to fight for everything he wanted. There was an inner rage he had to channel just to get an opportunity — first in college and then in the NFL.
Jason Kelce won a Super Bowl with the Eagles in his seventh NFL season. (John David Mercer / USA Today Sports)
Kelce still isn’t exactly sure where the anger came from.
He remembers a neighbor picking on him when he was young and his dad telling him to stick up for himself. When the family moved to Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Kelce tried to make friends but sometimes felt like an outcast. He was an excellent athlete and played a level up in baseball. As the youngest on the team, though, he was on the receiving end of some youthful ribbing.
“What I perceived at the time were these guys making fun of me,” said Kelce, who has spoken to sports psychologists and received counseling. “I was always kind of like the brunt of the joke. Now I understand it was just busting balls. Basically, every time that I have an outburst, I always have the feeling of being disrespected. And it’s a perception. I think it really roots itself in my father telling me to always stand up for myself. And that wasn’t always the reality, if that makes sense. It was just something that in my head, the moment I felt like I wasn’t being respected, the moment I wasn’t being treated fairly, I would make sure that didn’t happen again.”
Kelce was suspended nearly every year in elementary school for fighting. By middle school, he had the reputation as “that crazy Kelce kid,” according to his mom, Donna. So people stopped pushing his buttons. Travis, his younger brother, had a much easier time.
“He was lucky because they were all afraid of Jason so they left Travis alone,” Donna said. “(Jason) wasn’t a bully. Never, ever. He was always the one that was helping the kids out that didn’t have any chance to fight for themselves.”
As he got older, Kelce was able to take his aggression out through athletics. He was a star linebacker at Cleveland Heights High School and also played hockey and lacrosse while playing the saxophone in the jazz band. As a sophomore, Kelce started drawing interest from various colleges. He thought it was a foregone conclusion he’d play football in college. But when it came time for programs to hand out scholarships, Kelce didn’t get a single offer.
He had never committed to a full-time football offseason program because he was always playing other sports, so there were questions about his size and strength. His senior year, Kelce had to decide: Play at a I-AA or Division II school or try to walk on at a Division I program.
“My parents almost pushed me to go to a Division I school,” Kelce said. “I think they both knew that’s what I wanted to do. And I think they both had a lot of confidence that I could do that. Maybe they didn’t, and I didn’t know it at the time. They never even hinted that they didn’t think I could play Division I football.”
Around this time, Kelce’s grandfather, Donald Blalock, gave him a card that included a quote that was attributed to Calvin Coolidge.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and will always solve the problems of the human race.”
Kelce is not big on motivational sayings or inspirational quotes, but this one stuck with him. He kept the card in his wallet, never losing sight of the message.
When Kelce was growing up, Blalock lived in Sioux Falls, S.D., and wasn’t around a lot. But he liked to write letters and pass along helpful messages. He would have loved to be at the Super Bowl, but physically, it would have been difficult. Instead, he watched on TV and afterward saw Kelce recall the Coolidge quote that meant so much to him.
Earlier this year, Blalock died at 87. During the Eagles’ bye week, Kelce joined his family in Vermilion, Ohio, to scatter his grandfather’s ashes.
“It was an emotional weekend,” said Donna. “But he hung in there and he saw Jason win the Super Bowl. And he was with it enough to know exactly what happened and everything. And he heard the comments Jason made about him. It came full circle. And it was awesome.”
De’Angelo Smith remembers seeing the broken window near the training room at Cincinnati.
“When I saw it, I was like, ‘What the hell is wrong with him?’” Smith recalled. “Then a couple people told me, ‘You jumped in front of him.’ I’m like, ‘It happened to me when I was a freshman. You gotta pay your dues.’”
Kelce didn’t understand the concept at the time. He arrived at the University of Cincinnati in 2006 already feeling slighted as a scholarship-less walk-on. Before a practice, he waited in line for about a half-hour to get his ankles taped. Smith was a veteran on the team and a scholarship player, so he cut in front of Kelce and got taped first. Kelce didn’t like that, so he took out his frustration by shattering a nearby window with his fist. The next day, there was a sign-up sheet for everyone who wanted to get taped up.
“He actually won the deal because he got the sign-up sheet and I couldn’t jump the line anymore,” Smith said with a laugh.
“Just something as simple as that,” Kelce said. “But to me, it was like, ‘Why is this guy not respecting me? What’s the problem here? He’s not showing me (respect).’ But, and this is the problem, this is something I was talking to my mom about at Thanksgiving, in my head, it was always justified. And when I talked to my parents about it, it was always justified. But in my head wasn’t always what reality was. This guy who cut, De’Angelo Smith, was a veteran player. And that was kind of the understood rule. It wasn’t like he was picking on me as a personal attack. This was just a veteran saying, ‘I’m playing so I get to go in front of you in the tape line.’ There was always a reasoning in my head — not that that justifies anything. And I still struggle with it.”
Kelce had no interest in being the stereotypical walk-on — just along for the ride, might get a few meaningless snaps. He was out to destroy anything in his way. He wanted to make sure the coaches noticed him.
Kelce remembers practicing against a high-profile recruit named Freddie Lenix. Every time they took the field, Kelce was obsessed with proving he was a better player. He wanted to show that he deserved to play and receive a scholarship.
“Being a walk-on’s different,” he said. “I didn’t really feel like I deserved anything. I really feel that being a walk-on probably humbled me in the best way possible. It really forced me to have a realistic look at maybe I’m not good enough. Maybe I need to work harder to be better.
“Really, a lot of guys I don’t think liked me that much. I think guys liked me and respected me, but I know a lot of guys hated me for the way I practiced for sure. I had to try and do something to stand out, in my mind. I didn’t want to just be like the other walk-on guys that were just tackling dummies. If I was out there, I wasn’t just gonna just be some guy that you were gonna push around. That wasn’t the way it was gonna happen. And the coaches kind of revved that into us, too. I really took that to heart.”
Strength and conditioning coach Paul Longo believed Kelce should make the switch from linebacker to offensive line. Brian Kelly’s staff previously coached at Central Michigan, where it had moved Joe Staley from tight end to offensive tackle. The coaches felt Kelce would be a standout athlete at guard or center, and had the demeanor for the positions. They ended up being right. Longo helped Kelce add muscle and weight. He made the transition, starting 38 games in his college career — 26 at left guard and the final 12 at center.
“Offensive-line play made sense to me,” Kelce said. “I never was really a good SAT guy. I’m really slow at reading so I don’t do good with timed tests. I don’t even know what my Wonderlic was. It was probably very average. But one thing I’ve always been really good at, and I still remember a teacher telling me when I was in second grade, I’ve always been really good with like, puzzles and patterns. I’ve always been really good with like, spatial awareness and being able to pick out little itty, bitty differences in things. That’s, I think, more applicable for a football player than some other intellectual test. I kind of always have been good at that for whatever reason.”
While Kelce was making a successful transition to offense and giving himself a chance at the NFL, the temper still got the best of him at times.
One Friday morning, the coaches split the roster into two teams. Players had to do wall-sits next to each other. They had a 2×4 resting on their laps, and a coach would walk across it. One player at a time would run a relay circuit while the others continued the wall-sit. Kelce’s team was losing, so he decided to do something about it. When it was his turn to run the circuit, he crossed paths with a player from the opposing team.
“I come running across the turf and instead of just running and getting back in line, I just completely decleat the other guy on the other team who’s running across,” Kelce said. “You kind of crossed, but you weren’t really supposed to hit each other. This is just a race. But there weren’t really any rules established.”
Kelce credits Longo and Cincinnati offensive line coach Jeff Quinn for his success, but Quinn knew about the temper and would push his buttons. During one practice, not liking what he had seen, Quinn started testing Kelce, questioning whether he was good enough, whether college football was the right path for him. Kelce snapped.
“I would lean hard on Jason, and so I really got after him,” Quinn said. “And he just, God, he lost his mind almost. And he rips his helmet off. Thank God he didn’t hit me with his helmet. But he whipped it like 25 rows up. … He just whips it, and I’m sure there were a few choice words that came out of his mouth. And we were all kind of a little bit stunned and shocked. I told him, ‘You get your ass up there and you go get that damn helmet.’ That was one of those moments.”
Said Kelce: “I’ve always had a bit of a (temper), and I’ve gotten better with time, this anger and aggression has always been something that I’ve had. And as I’ve gotten older, that’s gone away more and more. I used to have, back in high school, really bad problems controlling it in sports. Besides maybe elementary school, in elementary school, I would get into fights. But I never really got into fights outside of sports. I kind of used sports to get this aggression and youthful energy out of my system. But there was like, a switch. Not always the best thing, for sure. I’ve done some very stupid things that I’ve had to apologize for. I remember a coach in college telling me, ‘What you did, I lost all respect for you.’ I’m not trying to play this up. This is probably one of the biggest problems I’ve had with myself. I’ve seen counselors for it and stuff. I think it’s gotten a lot better for sure. But every once in a while, I’ll have — it’s basically a temper tantrum is what it is.”
Somewhat of a breakthrough came in college, when Kelce talked to a sports psychologist. He realized that most of the incidents involved friends, teammates or coaches — people whom he respected. That was the issue. He couldn’t understand why people he respected, in turn, disrespected him.
The issues never seemed to surface in games. During his NFL career, Kelce has never been called for a late hit or unnecessary roughness. The only personal foul on his entire résumé is a face mask, which happened once.
“They almost never happened in games, and they never happened with people that I didn’t know or didn’t have a relationship with,” Kelce said. “That was the underlying thing. In practice, you have more time to process these feelings of disrespect. And then, not to mention that in practice or with people that you know, you have an expectation through those relationships that they’re going to treat you with respect. If it’s somebody that you don’t know, you don’t really have that expectation. You know what I mean? It really took getting to know that. That’s when I started to understand that mechanism better.
“I didn’t go into the games with the feeling that I was going to be treated with respect. You go into a game, you’re going into a fight. I have no expectation of a level of respect, whereas in practice, when my coach is yelling at me for God knows what, and it’s not in a respectful way, well, this guy should have respect for me. I’m out here busting my ass every single day with him, and I’m working hard, and he’s talking to me like this? So that’s why it almost never manifests itself in games.”
When Kelce signed a six-year, $37.5 million contract in 2014, Quinn was the second person he called after his parents to say thanks.
“Those are incidents. Those are not who Jason was,” Quinn said. “You could never have enough guys like Jason Kelce in your foxhole. Could never. Those guys are at a premium. They are special.”
Jason Kelce attends a Cincinnati-Temple game in October in Philadelphia. (Chris Szagola / AP Photo)
When former Eagles offensive line coach Howard Mudd was tasked with watching prospects before the 2011 draft, he couldn’t take his eyes off of Kelce. The scouting community dinged Kelce for his size, but Mudd didn’t care much. He focused, instead, on the balance, leverage and range. Kelce had all of those things.
On an official pre-draft visit with the Eagles, the organization asked him about the issues he’d had in college with his temper. Kelce was accountable for his mistakes, and that was all Mudd needed to hear. He wanted an athletic center, and Kelce reminded him of a player he coached with the Colts: Jeff Saturday.
When the draft got to the fourth round, Mudd started pestering then-head coach Andy Reid to take Kelce.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re gonna get him,’” Mudd said. “‘I promise you, we’re gonna get him.’”
When the fifth round came, Mudd got on Reid again, but it still wasn’t time. At this point, Kelce was hoping to make it to undrafted free agency. He’d hit it off with Reid and Mudd, and wanted to sign with the Eagles. But the team ended up drafting him in the sixth round with the 191st overall selection.
When the team started practicing in the summer, after the end of a lockout, it wasn’t long before Mudd eyed Kelce to be the starter. Reid thought Mudd’s plan might be too aggressive, but finally, in the preseason, Mudd convinced him to give Kelce a shot after the first series.
“He will be able to handle the mental part and the psychological part,” Mudd told Reid. “He’ll be able to make the calls, and he won’t shit his pants. Well, yes, he will, but no different than anyone else. When he messes up, he’s not gonna go to shit.”
Jason Kelce on the sideline during a preseason game in 2011. (Michael Perez/AP Photo)
Kelce started all 16 games as a rookie and has started 106 games overall since 2011. In his second season, Kelce suffered a knee injury and played in only two games. Reid was fired after the season. In 2015, the Eagles went 7-9, and owner Jeffrey Lurie fired head coach Chip Kelly.
Everything came together in 2017 with the 13-3 season and the Super Bowl title.
Kelce has long been a favorite of Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. Stoutland often praises Kelce’s football intelligence and still marvels at the key in-game adjustments the center made against the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
“They had a linebacker on one side, and he ran over at the last second,” Stoutland said. “LeGarrette Blount ran to the right on a mid-zone play. Between Kelce and (Stefen Wisniewski), there was a conversion call. Now we had talked about these calls prior, but they ran over late and they ran a blitz, and we brought the whole line in unison. And LeGarrette really, he did a great job of reading it and he went off to the right untouched, down the sideline. It was a big play in the game. That was not something we had done during preparation for that game.
“He’s so smart and sees things. Visually, he sees things. He sees safety rotations. He’s a quarterback playing center.”
In the days following the Super Bowl, Kelce couldn’t sleep.
Fans get to enjoy the run as it happens. But for players and coaches, there’s always the next practice or the next game. Kelce celebrated like everyone else, but it wasn’t until days later that he realized what had happened. Then he started to think about his personal journey: From being a walk-on to getting drafted in the sixth round to the disappointing seasons, the injuries and the trade rumors.
Kelce thought about everyone else’s respective journeys — the other offensive linemen, Nick Foles, the coaches. That’s when the seeds of the parade speech began to get planted in his head. To this day, his wife, Kylie, is the only person who’s heard the raw, uncensored version.
“My wife probably helped me not say certain things,” Kelce says. “I literally woke her up at 3 in the morning one time because I couldn’t sleep, and I’m talking to her about the song I had just heard. In running by her different things that I was going to say, she did a phenomenal job of like, ‘I don’t know if I would say that.’ I think she got very much the raw emotion.”
The morning of the parade, Kelce made sure to eat a big breakfast. The players were told not to bring their own alcohol on the busses (not everyone followed the rules). Once Kelce, decked out in his Mummers costume, saw how quickly they were moving, he decided to get out and walk the route.
“I got out of the bus right away, pretty much ran down the entire length of Broad Street, grabbing beers from anyone who would offer them and chugging them,” Kelce said. “I would be lying if I said I knew the count, but it was certainly north of 20. It was a lot.”
He’s a big guy with a high tolerance, so on a scale of one to 10, Kelce put his drunkenness at a five. He wanted to make sure he could deliver the speech.
Kelce didn’t write anything down, but he knew the topics and the people he wanted to reference. He saw a connection between his story, the team’s story and the city’s story. Kelce spent much of his football life fighting for respect. He felt like Philadelphia was always doing the same thing.
Finally, everyone had earned it. Finally, they could be called champions.
“I think the speech gets misunderstood a lot,” he said. “People think that I’m criticizing the media or that I was saying everybody was wrong with all these narratives. But that’s kind of not what it really was. It was more that these are all things that people had to endure or persevere through to get to the ultimate team championship.
“The whole speech and the whole season, my story and everything, ultimately it really correlated with Philadelphia’s story. And I think that’s why it was such a special season and that speech resonated with so many people.”
Acouple of months ago, Jason and Travis Kelce became the first pair of brothers to play against each other in the Super Bowl, as the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs played for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Chiefs would end up edging the Eagles in a thrilling game that saw both teams offense’s thrive, giving fans an exciting game at the biggest stage of them all.
The Kelce brothers also recently launched a podcast called “New Heights,” which has been a huge success, giving fans and media all sort of hilarious clips.
Jason and Travis Kelce talk about Antonio Brown’s drop kick
During one episode of their podcast “New Heights” Jason and Travis Kelce talked about the possibility of the NFL allowing fights, just like hockey and the NHL do.
Now during the latest episode of the show the two brothers once again talked about the matter and even remembered Antonio Brown’s 2016 kick to the face during a kick return against Cleveland.
Jason even suggested that Travis should be allowed to do that, comparing it to a stiff arm.
Grab a Kleenex because this one’s a tearjerker, courtesy of Jason Kelce and the unbreakable bond he formed with Eagles trainer Joe O’Pella that began in the trainer’s room and has since transcended beyond the gridiron.
As most NFL fans know by now, Jason fought back tears at a news conference in Philadelphia on Monday to announce his retirement from the Eagles after 13 seasons. In that time, Jason etched his name in Eagles lore, as a Super Bowl champion, six-time All-Pro honoree and seven-time Pro Bowl selection.
All of which is to say his next stop will undoubtedly be Canton, Ohio.
Travis Kelce was equally as emotional sitting next to mama Kelce. And then there’s Joe, a longtime Eagles trainer who met Jason during his second season with the Eagles. As Joe tells it, Jason tore his knee that year and it was Joe who lobbied to be Jason’s trainer because Jason “needed to be treated like an athlete, not a conventional offensive lineman.”
What would occur over the next 12-plus years, Joe said in a sweet tribute to Jason on Instagram, would impact his life in a way he never could have imagined. See, for years, Joe’s the trainer who taped Jason’s ankles and thumbs every day for 13 seasons, except for a few times in Jason’s last year.
@trainerjoeo/Instagram
@trainerjoeo/Instagram
It was during the 2023-24 NFL season when Joe was diagnosed with cancer. Joe said undergoing chemo and radiation forced him away from his job duties. He was forced to miss Jason’s last game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL Wild Card Round. The 32-9 loss not only eliminated the Eagles from the playoffs, but it also robbed Joe what would turn out to be one last opportunity to tape Jason’s thumbs and ankles.
Or so he thought.
Fast forward to Jason’s news conference to announce his retirement, Joe said the Eagles legend asked him to do just that for that news conference. Eagle-eyed fans noticed Jason walking around the Eagles’ facility with his ankles taped up, courtesy of Joe.
@trainerjoeo/Instagram
@trainerjoeo/Instagram
“You all know about the on-field accomplishments, and many of the off-field ones, too, but what this man has meant to me and now my family over the past decade plus is nearly indescribable,” Joe wrote in a lengthy tribute to Jason on Instagram. “In what would be his final season, when I was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo radiation and chemo, he offered his shore house if I needed to get away, and offered to pay for meal services to help my wife and me out, and he called me randomly when I had been home, too sick to come in because of chemo, just to check on me and chat about random things.”
As Joe put it, that’s who Jason is as a person.
“I taped this guy’s ankles and thumbs everyday for 13 seasons, and when he played his last game in Tampa, again I couldn’t be there due to cancer,” Joe continued in his tribute. “And when he told me he would be retiring and I expressed my regret of not being the last person to ever tape him, he offered to have me tape him for his retirement press conference. That’s who he is. And I hope theses stories can add to an already unbelievable legacy.”
Jason Kelce will join ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown” after retiring from the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this year, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.
The person confirmed the deal to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity on Monday because it was not expected to be announced until the ESPN/Disney upfront presentation to advertisers on May 14. The Athletic was the first to report on Kelce’s choice.
Kelce is expected to replace Robert Griffin III, who would continue with the network as a college football analyst. Scott Van Pelt became the host of the “Monday Night Football” pregame show last season with Marcus Spears and Ryan Clark as the other analysts.
Kelce played 13 years for the Eagles and was the most sought-after former player by the networks for the upcoming season. He participated in last year’s NFL Broadcasting and Media Workshop, which used to be known as the “Broadcast Bootcamp.”
FILE – Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce celebrates after a touchdown catch by his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87), during an NFL divisional round playoff football game, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024 in Orchard Park, NY.(Matt Durisko | AP Photo/Matt Durisko)
This is all new territory for me. I have even more respect for it now,” Kelce said at the time. “It’s very hard to do something live, reactive of stimulus that just happened and having something clever and meaningful to say.”
Kelce made an appearance on Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” during the Eagles bye week last season when he was an analyst during the second quarter of the game between the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears.
Kelce is expected to continue doing his “New Heights” podcast with his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Jason Kelce, second from right, and Travis Kelce, right, pose for a photo with fans courtside at the Celtics-Cavaliers NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
With Kelce off the market, former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick becomes the most sought-after TV free agent. Belichick got solid reviews as an analyst on Pat McAfee’s livestream during the first round of the NFL draft last week.
Monday ended up being a busy day when it came to NFL pregame show moves. CBS announced earlier in the day that Matt Ryan is joining “The NFL Today” after splitting time last season in the studio and being a game analyst. Ryan officially retired last week after a 15-year career with the Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts from 2008-22.
The network also announced Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason will leave after long runs on the show. Simms came to CBS in 1998 after the network won the rights to the AFC. He was the lead game analyst until he moved to the studio in 2017.
Travis and Jason Kelce might be the most beloved pair of brothers in the NFL this side of the Watt family. But, as with all boys, they’ll be boys, too. Fights happen, punches are thrown, but at the end of it, brothers hug it out.
On Monday night’s “Manningcast” broadcast of the Bengals vs. Browns matchup, the brothers showed up dressed up as the Manning brothers for Halloween.
And while the brothers talked about the secret behind the success of their respective teams, Travis. when asked, explained the last time that the duo locked horns — and how it almost put their dad in the hospital.
MORE: NFL trade deadline tracker — Latest rumors, deals and more
I would say — Jason tells a great story of our last actual fist fight, where he punched me in the face after playing a game of basketball. I had finally got to the point where I was looking him eye-to-eye in high school. I picked him up and threw him onto the kitchen floor and knocked the stove off its hinges and everything. We got yelled at by mom and almost injured dad in the midst of it all. That’s what ended up breaking up the fight — we almost hurt my dad and sent him to the hospital. That was the end of us fighting.
All’s well that ends well: The Kelce brothers clearly overcame whatever beef they had in the moment and squashed it with a good ol’ sparring session. They both found their way to the NFL, too, so clearly they can get out their frustrations hitting other people instead of each other.
The Kelce brothers have only ever faced off against one another three times in their careers, and Travis’ Chiefs hold the edge over Jason’s Eagles 3-0 in those matchups.
If things keep going the way they are, the next time they meet could be in Super Bowl 57. The stakes will be a bit higher than a basketball game, though,
Philadelphia Eagles veteran center Jason Kelce admitted it was his “cheap shot” that set off a fight during a Tuesday joint practice against the Indianapolis Colts that prompted an early end to the session between both teams.
With the Eagles and Colts set to play in Philadelphia on Thursday in the teams’ preseason finale, both squads are going through joint practices at the Eagles’ facility. During Tuesday morning’s practice, Kelce took exception with Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin knocking Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell to the ground on consecutive snaps. After it happened the second time, Kelce came charging down the field and barreled into Franklin, setting off a brawl that emptied both sidelines.
After the players were separated, both teams decided to end practice around 13 minutes before its scheduled conclusion.
“I think tensions just got the better of me,” Kelce, a five-time All-Pro, said Tuesday after practice. “That certainly doesn’t belong out there on the field. And just a little bit of shame that it got to that level, that I did what I did … . I think I didn’t handle things properly at the end.”
Gainwell said that he appreciated Kelce for “being a professional and sticking up for his brothers” and said tensions were high after Philadelphia “whooped their (butts)” during the practice.
NFL DRAFT HUB: Latest NFL Draft mock drafts, news, live picks, grades and analysis.
Franklin was born in Philadelphia and said he supported the Eagles when he was younger.
“I thought the OG would at least look me in the eye before (hitting me),” Franklin said of Kelce. “But it’s all good. I’ll get a chance to look him in the eye on Thursday, so we’re going to be OK.”
It is unlikely that Kelce and Franklin, both of whom are starters for their respective teams will play in the preseason finale.
That wasn’t the first time in Tuesday’s practice that players had to be separated. During a drill between the Indianapolis offense and the Philadelphia defense, Eagles defensive linemen Jalen Carter and Derek Barnett met in the backfield for a would-be sack of Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson; quarterbacks wear non-contact jerseys and are not supposed to be hit. Barnett, however, knocked the ball out of Richardson’s hands, prompting Colt offensive linemen to shove him, leading to a small dustup.
“You want to play this game with emotion and intensity, but you can’t obviously let your emotion take control and cause you to do something, that’ll hurt the team in the long run,” Kelce said about head coach Nick Sirianni’s message after practice.
“You can’t be out there acting on every instinct that we have, then we’re not going to be unified, working together, and (those are) penalties that will cost us games and ultimately the season. So certainly, (Sirianni) used it as a way to say how we can’t react in situations like this.”
