Getty Eagles stars Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce have been teammates on the Philly offensive line since 2013.
Whenever Jason Kelce decides to retire, he really should consider running for political office in Philadelphia. Mayor? Congressman? Councilmember? Doesn’t matter. He’d win in a landslide.
Kelce understands the city and fan base better than anybody who has walked these streets. Surprising, considering he’s a Cleveland transplant. On Thursday morning, the All-Pro center got brutally honest about his true feelings toward Eagles fans while contrasting them to Dallas Cowboys fans. He called one “this extremely localized die-hard fan base,” adding that the other was “built on commercialism and all of this pop culture.”
You can be the judge of which is which (via SportsRadio 94WIP). That conversation carried into Kelce’s pre-practice press conference later in the day where he elaborated a bit. He doubled down on how passionate the Philly fan is about sports, especially when all the professional teams are doing well.
“This city loves its sports and when the Eagles are playing well — when I’m out and about, they for sure make me feel that,” Kelce said. “Whether it’s going out to eat with my family or walking down the street, or you’re going to a concert, you can feel that energy emanating from the fan base.”
Jason Kelce on Eagles-Cowboys rivalry
Then, Kelce brought up a self-admitted “terrible” stat to prove his point. He meant no disrespect.
Kelce said: “This is a terrible statistic, but the domestic violence charges are down when the Eagles are winning games, like what is better than the feeling that you’re contributing to lower domestic violence charges across the city? It’s a terrible stat but to know that you’re making people happier so they don’t do terrible things, that’s one of the powers of sports, right?
“We’re kind of in the business of hope. And when the sports teams are doing well, and when the Eagles and Phillies, Sixers, everybody is going in the right direction the city is going in the right direction a lot of times.”
“Business of hope” – @JasonKelce
Kelce Provides Update on Ankle Sprain
Kelce was a limited participant at Thursday’s practice due to an ankle sprain. That marks two days in a row. Rest assured, nothing is going to prevent him from starting against the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. Kelce plans to make his 128th consecutive start — the fourth-longest in franchise history — while suiting up for the 21st time versus Dallas.
“I had an MRI on Monday and it’s a sprained ankle,” Kelce said. “I stepped on a Cardinals player’s foot while I was pass-blocking and it just … I’ve rolled that ankle a lot. I just think I kind of have a propensity to roll it if it’s put in a weird situation.”
Here is the Eagles’ full injury report:
Thursday injury report
Important Lessons From Jason Peters
Jason Peters was getting mixed reactions for a compliment he tried to pay Eagles fans. The future Hall of Famer referred to them as “f****** idiots” when describing their passion and “camaraderie.” His old teammates knew what he meant.
Jason Kelce shared what he learned from Jason Peters: “If I learned anything from him it’s don’t forget the fact that you’re a teammate. You’re with a group of guys and we’re out here doing this together.” #Eagles #FlyEaglesFly
Kelce was asked to share what he learned from Peters during their time together in Philadelphia and reeled off a touching answer after struggling to find the right words at first.
“I think that JP had the best feel for the game of anybody I’ve played with,” Kelce said. “I think a lot of players — and this is particular to offensive line play, too, especially like coaches tend to be technicians, like you take your first step and it’s six inches over here and your next step is over here and boom, boom, boom — and that’s good, a good base to have. But JP had just incredible awareness and feel for the game.”