The Philadelphia Eagles are so convinced that their star center Jason Kelce should be inducted into the Hall of Fame that they released a 27-minute film in November detailing why the 36-year-old deserves to be in Canton.
Travis, Kelce’s younger brother, became distraught when he saw the video.
On the most recent episode of the “New Heights” podcast, the brothers discussed a now-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter, by NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Reuben Frank, in which he stated that Kelce is the 23rd offensive lineman in NFL history to be named first-team All-Pro at least five times and Pro Bowl at least seven times.
The reason why the tweet was deleted? Frank noted that every single offensive lineman on the list was a Hall of Famer except Jim Tyrer, who murdered his wife in 1980. Many users thought the tweet was in bad taste.
Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs speaks with Jason Kelce #62 of the Philadelphia Eagles following Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on February 12, 2023. Travis became emotional after viewing a lengthy film posted by the Eagles about Jason’s Hall of Fame nomination.Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images.
Jason didn’t mind the tweet because it was all true, but Travis dubbed it “the darkest LeBron stat of all time,” referring to the “New Heights” term for esoteric data.
Returning to Frank’s bigger point, Jason stated that the writer has been supporting his Hall of Fame candidacy for several years, citing a number of facts.
Travis favors the Eagles’ official version.
“There’s nothing better than what the Eagles posted about you,” he went on to say. “A 30-minute highlight movie of why Jason Kelce transcended the game of football and why you should unquestionably be in the Hall of Fame. Dude, it was unbelievable. I cried. There isn’t a single occasion when you should cry. It was excellent, guy.”
In the video, Eagles analyst Fran Duffy discusses what makes Jason so great. He examined a number of particular plays Kelce brings to the table, but the most notable was the run-pass option (RPO), which the Eagles can execute because to Kelce’s unusual set.
“When people talk about hall of fame credentials, the question is asked: ‘Can you tell the story of this era of the NFL without talking about this player?'” Duffy narrates. “Well, you can’t write the story of modern football without discussing RPOs, and you can’t tell the story of RPOs without mentioning the Eagles, who introduced them to the league and rode them to a Super Bowl. And you can’t tell a tale about the Eagles’ success without including Jason Kelce and his impact on those schemes.”
Duffy discussed how Kelce’s gravity influences the Eagles’ system, as well as his unique size (Kelce is the second-lightest offensive lineman to participate in the NFL combine since 2001), which improves his footwork and balance.
Furthermore, Kelce is a vital component of the Eagles’ quarterback sneak, a play so effective that the NFL may have to prohibit it.
Kelce especially stands out on screen plays, when he had only been called for two holds in 920 plays before this season.
“Watching Kelce work in the screen game is like seeing Michael Jordan with the ball in crunch time,” Duffy says in the video. “He’s Chris Rock with a microphone.” He’s Picasso with a brush. He is the best at what he does.”
Jason asked Travis on “New Heights” if the screen segment of the video made him cry.
“It was. “It was the screens,” Travis explained. “You actually are the RPOs, man. “They would not be the same without Jason Kelce.”
Jason and the Eagles face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round on Sunday at 8:00 p.m.