Jason Kelce Says He Wanted to Retire Every Year for the Last 4 Seasons but ‘Still Had It in Me’

The former Philadelphia Eagles star is adjusting to the first year in over a decade in which he won’t report to training camp — but Kelce has multiple irons in the fire, including his new partnership with Kingsford.He adds, “The reality is it’s really hard to get there. And even after we lost the Super Bowl, I wanted to come back and play for another Super Bowl. But imagining another 17 games on top of playoffs and coming back was very difficult to envision being able to do.”

Yet the former Philadelphia Eagles star, 36, realized that the past season was different from earlier campaigns.“Those previous three years, I felt like I still had it in me and still wanted to and still could play at the level I felt I wanted to be able to play at and go out there and compete,” he says. “And after stepping away this year, it just was more and more evident after the season that my body is telling me to stop. I don’t think I could play another season at the way I want to and the way that’s going to make me happy.”