Jason Kelce, former center for the Philadelphia Eagles and 13-year NFL veteran, is officially appearing on SportsRadio 94WIP as a weekly guest Thursdays on the 94WIP Morning Show during the National Football League season. Kelce will make one-hour appearances spanning from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. EST in which he will discuss the latest news about the Eagles and local sports with co-hosts Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie, along with taking calls from listeners. DeCamara and Ritchie made the announcement on Thursday’s edition of the morning show one day before the Eagles organization opens its 2024 regular season against the Green Bay Packers in an international matchup from São Paulo, Brazil.
Kelce is a former Super Bowl champion, six-time first-team All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowl selection who has become more involved in sports media since announcing his retirement earlier in the year. While he was an active player, Kelce co-hosted the New Heights podcast with his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
The duo signed an ad-sales representation and distribution deal with Wondery for the podcast last week that grants the Amazon-owned podcast studio the global distribution rights for all audio and video episodes of the show as it enters its third season. On top of that, Jason Kelce has joined ESPN as a member of its Monday Night Countdown team and will make his regular-season debut on Monday, Sept. 9 alongside host Scott Van Pelt and analysts Ryan Clark and Marcus Spears.
“There’s a very good argument to be made that I’m probably doing too much, but I think for me, listen, Philadelphia’s my home and it’s been a place that I’ve enjoyed my career, and it’s just such a unique city where there’s a localness to Philadelphia that I think the fans and people really, really appreciate, and maybe that’s everywhere, but it’s really apparent in the city,” Kelce said. “And WIP has been such a staple of this town for a long time, and a lot of people have helped build that, and for me, it’s a way to stay connected at a local level.”
Kelce explained that while he is looking forward to his new role with ESPN, there is an element of feeling disconnected in broadcasting on the national level. As a result, he discerned that appearing on SportsRadio 94WIP will help him maintain his connection with the city of Philadelphia, and he feels that the station is one of the best platforms to do so. DeCamara followed his answer by expressing his confidence that people would appreciate Kelce’s commitment to the city even after his playing career is over. Earlier in the interview, DeCamara asked Kelce if he was happy since retiring from the league.
“I’m happy in where I’m at in life,” Kelce said. “There’s certainly things that I miss – the camaraderie of a football team is something that I don’t know that anyone ever gets back after talking to guys. There is an anxious feeling, I think, because there’s not a game that you’re preparing for. We’ll see how the season goes, but the highs and lows that happen in a season, I think, are very invigorating from talking to Chris Long and a lot of former guys. In some ways, that makes you feel really alive, so it’ll be interesting to see how the season goes. Right now, things don’t feel that different.”
