Jason Kelce sobs as he announces retirement plan after 13 seasons in the NFL

Jason Kelce is going out on a high.

The Philadelphia Eagles center sobbed as he announced his retirement plan from the NFL after 13 seasons on Monday.

“Not a good start,” he joked through tears, before launching into a poem about being on the field.

Kelce’s brother, Travis, as well as his parents, Ed and Donna, and his wife Kylie were all in attendance at the press conference in Philadelphia.

Jason, 36, was the Eagles’ sixth-round pick in the 2011 draft, and he spent his entire career with the team.

Kelce has played for the Philadelphia Eagles since 2011. Fox The center played for the same team throughout his career. Getty Images

He won a Super Bowl ring in 2018 and has seven Pro Bowls under his belt.

Jason memorably helped lead his team to the 2023 Super Bowl, which the Eagles lost to his brother Travis Kelce’s team, the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-35.

Speculation that Jason was hanging up his cleats first emerged in January after the Eagles’ season-ending loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He won the 2018 Super Bowl. Getty Images He also has seven Pro Bowls under his belt. Getty Images

He told his teammates in the locker room after the game that he was retiring, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

“He has considered retiring after other recent seasons, but this time is said to be real and happening,” the sports reporter tweeted.

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Jason was visibly upset following his team’s loss and even appeared to be crying when cameras cut to him on the sidelines.

“That looks like a man filled with emotion right now,” commentator Troy Aikman said during the broadcast.

He walked off the field toward his wife, Kylie Kelce, who stood in the front row with his father, Ed Kelce.

Kelce faced off against his brother, Travis Kelce, in the 2023 Super Bowl. REUTERS Travis plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. AP

Eagles player Lane Johnson also told reporters that Jason had “hinted” to teammates that 2023-24 was his final season.

“I love him. He’s one of the best to ever play the game,” Johnson said.

“The things he can do on the football field athletically — I don’t think we’ll see another one like him for a long time.”

The athlete will now focus his time on being a dad. DisneyParks/Instagram He and wife Kylie Kelce share three daughters. Michael Zorn/Shutterstock

In March 2023, the father of three announced his decision to “return for another year after talking it over with my wife and many other friends and family.”

“I have put much thought into whether it makes sense to play another season… Thank you to all my supporters and detractors for fueling me, I ain’t f–king done yet,” he tweeted at the time.

Jason and Kylie are parents to three girls: Wyatt Elizabeth, 4, Elliotte Ray, 2, and Bennett Llewellyn, 1.