(The following article was first published on Jan. 16). IN THE AFTERMATH of the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in February — once he watched the red and yellow confetti fall from the sky, after he congratulated his brother, Travis, and shared a long hug with his mom, Donna — Jason Kelce stood at his locker stall inside State Farm Stadium and spoke about the types of things he contemplates when considering whether to retire. «You try and weigh whether you think, one, you can still do it at a high level, and two, whether you want to do it.
I think that's the big thing. It's a grind,» he said. • Team-by-team offseason guide (ESPN+) • Key people (ESPN+) | Priorities, dates • Tracking coach openings, hirings • Ranking top 50 free agents (ESPN+) • NFL draft order | Top draft prospects «It's getting harder every year.
I'm nowhere near the player I used to be. Jalen Hurts makes all of us look a lot better and makes my job a lot easier. It's only going to go [downhill], and whether you can be accountable to your teammates and perform at that level and mentally you have the energy to be the difference-maker that I feel I am in that regard, all that stuff will factor in.» He decided to give it another go, encouraged by the play of his quarterback and hopeful he could stand on the mountaintop — or more literally, the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps, in full Mummers attire — one more time.
But it was not to be. The Eagles exited in the wild-card round of the playoffs following an uninspired 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.