(WPHL) – After a tough Eagles loss Monday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, fans are waking up to another heartbreak.
According to reports by ESPN‘s Adam Schefter and the NFL Network itself, Philadelphia Eagles player Jason Kelce informed his teammates Monday night that he is retiring.
Following the game, Kelce declined to speak to reporters but appeared emotional walking back to the locker room.
The 36-year-old Kelce spent the past 13 seasons playing as a center for the Eagles.
Kelce, a six-time All-Pro and future Hall of Famer, has been hinting at his retirement since the end of the 2022 season following the Eagles’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57.
Kelce was drafted in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL draft out of Cincinnati.
He is set to become a free agent in March, meaning he could re-sign with the Eagles if he changes his mind.
In 2023, Kelce was named one of People’s Sexiest Men Alive and continues to gain popularity through his “New Heights” podcast, recorded alongside brother Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Jason Kelce was part of Philadelphia’s core four of stars that have experienced droughts and championship runs, multiple coaches and one of the worst collapses in the city’s sports history. Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham are the lone holdovers from former coach Andy Reid’s last season with the Eagles in 2012. Lane Johnson completes the four veteran anchors and was a rookie in former coach Chip Kelly’s first season in 2013.
They won a Super Bowl under former coach Doug Pederson and won just four games in 2020. They’ve played hurt and set records. They’ve also raised the standard on what it means to be an Eagles player.
“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
The Core Four is no more. Jason Kelce is the first to call it quits.
He has not yet made any public comments.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.