The Sports World Reacts To Jason Kelce Retiring

Jason Kelce has retired. After 13 seasons, 6 All-Pros, 7 Pro Bowls, and a Super Bowl, the legendary Eagles player is calling it a career. We knew it was coming. It seemed clear it was his final season from the start. There were reports he was retiring immediately after the final game of the season. But we waited to hear it from the man himself to officially react. With how great his career was, he earned the right to go out on his own terms.

Which is just what he did. In an emotional 40-minute speech he announced his retirement yesterday. He talked about coming up undersized and having doubters. Then he praised Philly fans and defended them from accusations about being too negative. He thanked influential people in his career like Jeff Stoutland, Howard Mudd, and his brother Travis. And he also made many of us cry with how emotional he was getting.

It is not often a Center makes this much of an impact. Sometimes even the greatest of Offensive Linemen go under the radar. But he is not only among the greatest Eagles linemen of all time, he is up there as one of the most beloved players in franchise history. We will see people rocking his jersey 20 years from now the way we still see people were Reggie White and Brian Dawkins jerseys. And given how rare O-Line Jerseys are to see, that is saying something.

His decision gripped not just Philadelphia today, but seemingly the sports world. People who have nothing to do with Philly or the Eagles chimed in. We collected some of the best reactions from around the sports world to share here. It seems like it is not only Eagles fans who are going to miss him.

The Hall of Fame decided to weigh in. They noted that the year 2029 could be of some importance. That just so happens to be when he will be eligible for Canton. And with his 6 All Pros, it feels like getting in year one is a shoo in. Even if he was humble enough to call himself over rated in his retirement speech.

An iconic off the field moment for Kelce was him shot gunning a beer on the field at Citizens Bank Park during the 2022 playoff run. There is also the iconic image of him and the Phanatic doing a jumping hug. So the Phillies took to twitter to congratulate Kelce on his great career. The Flyers And Sixers also put out Tweets.

Also just a special shoutout to the Flyers for doing something cool. In his honor, they donated $10,000 to the Eagles Autism Foundation. There was a push after his retirement speech to donate to this charity in honor of Kelce. So the flyers did their part to help out.

A ton of former teammates took to Social Media to congratulate Kelce. That includes Mike Vick. He gave Kelce a shootout for his great snaps out of the shotgun. Something he would have to do a ton in his career as we have rarely seen the Eagles play under center in recent years.

Another former teammate of Jason's Zach Ertz, also had nothing but nice things to say about Jason. People crediting Kelce for their success is  a reoccurring trend. Ertz is far from the only guy to share this sentiment. Kelce's impact on the team was far larger than his great play on the field.

A lot of the reaction was from players just talking about how clear it is that Kelce loves the game. Robert Griffin was one of the former players to point that out. Kelce getting emotional shows how much it matters to him. And people pick up on that.

Sharing all the players who reacted would make this list 500 items long. So here is a collection of more players reacting. Including Troy Aikman, Darius Slay, Tyreek Hill, and others. Courtesy of the NFL Official Twitter account.

One of the best parts of Kelce's speech was when he talked about Philly fans. He made it so clear how well he understands Philly fans. They can at times be tough, but they will also love you harder than anyone if you show you care. Something Philly's own Kevin Negandhi pointed out about Kelce on Twitter.

Jason obviously has a connection to the Chiefs via his brother. When they are not playing the Eagles, Jason has supported them. It's why he showed up to the Super Bowl in Chiefs overalls, even though his wife was a good Eagles fan and declined to wear Chiefs gear. So it was cool to see the Chiefs give Jason a shoutout.

Jill Biden has never been shy about her Philly fandom. She has made no attempt to hide it. Jill will often be seen at Eagles games in the owner's box, or rocking Eagles gear. So of course she took to Twitter to acknowledge one of the greatest players in team history.