Jason announced he was retiring after 13 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday.
Jason Kelce's wife, Kylie, says her husband's retirement speech -- which included a tribute to her -- was heartwarming. And funny, too.
The mother of three told Philadelphia's NBC10 that she was "the only one that had heard the speech" before Jason delivered it Monday at the Eagles' training facility in Philly. She thought the emotional speech was "a perfect summary" of his 13 years with the NFL organization.
But amid all the tears and tissues that were needed to wipe them away, Kylie says Jason's speech elicited some laughter.
"It, of course, made me emotional. It cracks me up that he tries to talk about what he remembers from that night because he was, as I've said before, intoxicated," she said.
Kylie was referring to Jason conjuring up the memory of meeting Kylie for the first time. They met on a dating app and she joined him and his teammates at a Philly-area bar for a team holiday celebration. Jason ended the night passing out at the bar and having to be carried out by some of his fellow Eagles -- but not before realizing that he'd met the woman he'd one day marry.
In his retirement speech, Jason praised Kylie as "beautiful, smart, serious, yet playful." He added, "She has brought the best out of me through love, devotion, support, honesty, intelligence, and of course a swift kick in the a** from time to time."
"It was very very sweet," Kylie said of the speech. "Very kind. It was far too much credit."
Jason had been contemplating retirement for years now, and the proof is in the various retirement speeches he wrote over the years.
"I've heard multiple versions over the last four years," Kylie said. "This was a completely different version. I think every year he's sort of started from scratch as to what was sitting on the surface. But when he said that he was contemplating retirement for years, he means for years."
Jason and Kylie tied the knot in April 2018, and have since welcomed three daughters: Wyatt, 4; Elliotte, turning 3 this month; and Bennett, who just turned 1.
On his and Travis Kelce's New Heights podcast, Jason shared what led to his retirement.
"In previous years, I would reach out to other guys, like, 'Hey, how do you know when you want to stop playing?' or 'What do you think?'" Jason admitted, revealing that it was his body that told him it was time to hang up the cleats. "The reality was, it was more firm than it's ever been this year that I just don't think physically I can compete at the level that I want to anymore."
Jason continued, "My elbow and my knees, it's just gotten to the point where the deterioration and the recovery from that deterioration hasn't really manifested on game day yet, but I know it's gonna start doing that. ... I'm hard on myself, and if I go out there and I'm not the player that I want to be, it will crush me. So I feel very confident in the decision I've made. I know it's time. I've had a really good run, but that's the biggest reason why."
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