Not that getting a cushy media job can totally take away the temptation of staging an NFL comeback — *ahem*, looking at you, Tom Brady — but retired Philadelphia Eagles legend Jason Kelce seems to be embracing the next phase of his life. The future Hall of Fame center will still very much be involved in the game of football, and in addition to his smash hit New Heights podcast, he’s signed on with ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown pregame show with Scott Van Pelt.
Kelce has one of the most outgoing, likable personalities of any professional athlete on the planet. Even with his brother Travis as half of the ultimate power couple with Taylor Swift, Jason still gets plenty of shine, and I wouldn’t say he’s overshadowed that much. If anything, the high-profile relationship has only elevated his own standing in the public eye.
Whatever. None of that has anything to do with this new job Kelce got. Because of the success of New Heights, as The Athletic‘s report indicates, the 36-year-old was going to have a whole host of suitors vying for his services at some sort of big media job. CBS just had a pregame show shakeup of their own by bidding adieu to Boomer Esaison and Phil Simms. Shout out Andrew Marchand for breaking media gig news left and right.
Kelce would’ve been a good fit in the CBS studio, but with the way ESPN has embraced a similar-ish, no-holds-barred force of nature in Pat McAfee of late, it feels like Kelce is indeed a better fit at the four-letter network based on where they’re trending.
SVP has long been one of the best to ever do it. I’m sure as Kelce gets more comfortable on the pregame show, his role will only expand. We could see him in the Monday Night Football booth. I know ESPN has had some offensive linemen like Jeff Saturday, Damien Woody and others hired on as part of their NFL coverage. However, Kelce brings such a different flavor than any of those predecessors, and I think he has a real shot to provide truly unique insight mixed with plenty of humor, not to mention wild stories from his playing days in Philly.
To invoke a cross-sports analogy, what a grand slam move by ESPN to hire Jason Kelce. Over The Cap tells me that he made $85.8 million during his 13-year Eagles career.
Between New Heights, Monday Night Countdown, and what I assume will be an ever-expanding job at ESPN, Kelce is going to eclipse that figure in easily half the time, if not sooner.
