Travis Kelce gets emotional as Jason Kelce announces he’s retiring from NFL

Jason Kelce has formally announced his retirement from the NFL, but no one is taking the news harder than his younger brother Travis Kelce.

On Monday 4 March, the 36-year-old Philadelphia Eagles centre sobbed as he announced his retirement from the NFL after 13 seasons. “Not a good start,” he joked through tears. During the press conference, Jason detailed his visceral memories of playing football as a kid, as well as the hardships he went through to make it as a professional athlete.

In clips shared from the press conference on X, formerly Twitter, the older Kelce took time to thank everyone who has helped him along the way - including his parents, Donna and Ed Kelce; his brother Travis; and his wife Kylie Kelce, who were all holding back tears in the audience.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end - who was sitting in the front row next to his parents and sister-in-law - was even seen wiping away his tears with a tissue. However, the 34-year-old athlete came prepared as he concealed his face with a pair of dark sunglasses.

“Travis Kelce emotional during Jason Kelce’s retirement press conference,” one tweet read, alongside a clip of Travis crying. “A beautiful moment to see Jason’s family going through this with him. He is looking at them often throughout the speech.”

In response to the clip, many fans mentioned how wholesome it was for Jason’s entire family to be crying over the announcement.

“This right here, brought tears to my eyes,” one commenter wrote.

Another agreed, writing: “Why when I see a man crying I just wanna cry with them?”

“It’s always wholesome whenever Travis talks about everything his brother has done for him,” a third person wrote.

At one point during his retirement announcement, Jason took the opportunity to give a shout-out to his younger brother Travis. “It was really my brother and I our whole lives. We did almost everything together - competed, fought, laughed, cried and learned from each other,” the father of three said.

“We invented games, imagined ourselves as star players of that time. 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.”

The now-retired NFL star also reflected on their 2023 Super Bowl matchup, in which the Kansas City Chiefs came out victorious against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I won’t forget falling short to the Chiefs and the conflicting feeling of immense heartbreak I had selfishly for myself and for my teammates,” Jason said, with tears in his eyes. “And at the same time the amount of pride I had that my brother had climbed the mountaintop once again.”

It was first speculated that Jason was retiring from the NFL following the Philadelphia Eagles’ losing playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last January. As the final seconds of the game ticked off, Jason was seen standing on the sidelines in tears. He then embraced his long-time offensive line coach and removed his helmet once the game ended to extend his hand to his wife and his father in the stands.

Throughout his 13-season career in the NFL, Jason has achieved 156 straight starts, six All-Pro Team selections, and one Super Bowl title.