Travis Kelce broke down in tears while reflecting on brother Jason Kelce’s retirement from professional football after a stellar 13 seasons playing for the NFL.
“You’ve always been a step ahead of me in this game,” Travis told his older brother on Wednesday’s episode of their “New Heights” podcast.
“It’s always been like I’ve had this flotation device right there,” he continued. “And to have you out of it, it feels empty. It definitely feels like it’s complete. It was a success.”
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Travis’ voice began to quiver as he became emotional while recalling the former Philadelphia Eagles center’s past successes.
“It was a fun-ass 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,” Travis said through tears.
Jason replied by telling the Kansas City Chiefs tight end that they “showed each other the way.”
“Listen, I’m out of playing but I’m still going to the games,” Jason 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 that it has to offer.”
Jason added that he and his family will still remain in Philadelphia and that he’s looking forward to an “exciting” new chapter where he’ll get to experience things he’s never done before.
“It was cool being the tag team of the National Football League. Pretty cool s–t,” Travis admitted as he continued to struggle holding back his sobs.
Travis added that he hadn’t really discussed Jason’s retirement speech from Monday because he was letting him do his “own thing.”
“I couldn’t have been more proud listening to you yesterday,” Travis said. “It’s been a lot of emotions. A lot of sad emotions, a lot of exciting emotions. I mean, you’ve got the f–king world in your palm now, dude.
“You’ve got three little ones I know you’re dying to watch grow up,” Travis continued, referring to Jason’s three kids with wife Kylie: Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 3, and Bennie, 1.
Sniffling as he held back tears, the three-time Super Bowl champion noted that there are a lot of exciting things for Jason to look forward to.
“Can I see the Kleenex real quick?” Travis asked, to which Jason laughed.
“I would be crying more but I wasted all my tears,” Jason told him, to which Travis replied, “You know I’ve got plenty of those.”
Jason announced during a press conference on Monday that he was stepping away from his football career with a teary-eyed speech.
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“There is no chance I would be here without the bond Travis and I share,” Jason shared. “It was really my brother and I our whole lives. We did almost everything together — competed, fought, laughed, cried and learned from each other. We invented games, imagine ourselves as star players of that time.”
He continued, “We envisioned making winning plays day after day. We won countless Super Bowls in our minds before ever leaving the house. And when we weren’t playing we were at the other one’s games.”
Travis was seen wiping away his own tears as he listened from the audience to his brother’s emotional goodbye to the sport.
“Thank you, Philadelphia, from the bottom of my heart,” Jason, wearing a $50,000 Rolex watch, said. “It has truly been a privilege. You have all been good to me and my family … I don’t know what’s next but I look forward the new challenges and lessons that await.”
Jason spent his entire career playing for the Eagles after being drafted in 2011 as the team’s sixth-round pick. He won a Super Bowl ring in 2018 and has seven Pro Bowls under his belt.
Jason was famously defeated by Travis’ team in the 2023 Super Bowl when the Chiefs beat the Eagles, 38-35.
