Jason Kelce, center for the Philadelphia Eagles, retired from the NFL after the 2023-2024 season. He announced the decision in March 2024, and in Jason’s retirement speech, he gave his wife Kylie Kelce the spotlight she deserves. That sweet sentiment isn’t the only moment that stuck out. Jason’s taped ankles could briefly be seen in a video from after his speech uploaded to X, formerly known as Twitter. The strange detail had a heartfelt meaning.
Some of Jason and his brother Travis Kelce’s best brotherly moments are recounted on their podcast “New Heights.” In the episode following the retirement announcement, Jason described picking an Eagles tank top he’d worn often and told the story of his taped-up ankles. He said, “One of the trainers of the Eagles has been battling cancer all season long. And he’s been there my entire career too, Joe O’Pella.”
After giving a health update on O’Pella, who Jason believed was in remission but not fully done with treatment yet, Jason continued the story. “But he wasn’t able to tape me for any of the games this year, and he’s taped my ankles my whole career, so he taped my ankles for the press conference one last time.”
Joe O’Pella told the story of taping Jason Kelce’s ankles a final time on Instagram. In the post, O’Pella reminisced about both their professional relationship and friendship. One of the tragedies of Kelce’s life was the injuries he sustained playing professional football. He badly hurt his knee in 2012, which O’Pella mentioned. Being the one to help with Jason’s knee rehabilitation seemed to spark their deep friendship.
Kelce was a good friend when O’Pella was diagnosed with cancer, offering help in a variety of ways. “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,” O’Pella said in his social media post.
The trainer was disappointed that he hadn’t been there to tape Jason one last time when the Eagles center told him about his retirement. Jason then asked if O’Pella would tape him for the press conference where he shared the big news. “That’s who he is,” O’Pella added. “And I hope these stories can add to an already unbelievable legacy.”
In his post about Jason Kelce, Joe O’Pella mentioned “being his Wing Bowl ‘cornerman’” when describing things they’ve done together. The untold truth of the Philadelphia Wing Bowl was that it was a raucous competitive eating challenge held the Friday prior to Super Bowl Sunday. The tradition ended in 2018, but four years prior, Kelce threw his hat into the ring and competed. Although he didn’t win — only eating 65 chicken wings in the first round and not advancing — Kelce seemed to have a good time. He explained how with the wing-eating challenge, “The hardest part was the speed. … But this was awesome. It was a great experience” (via CBS News).
Back in 2014, O’Pella shared a selfie on Instagram of him and Kelce at the infamous wild event and captioned it, “65 wings in 14 min, not bad for an amateur. Proud of my guy @jkelce. Had a blast being your trainer/coach in front of 20,000+ #Wingbowl22.” Maybe one day the event will be revived and Kelce and O’Pella can team up for it once again.
