Eagles’ Jason Kelce Gives Inclusive Look Into NFL World: ‘Like No Other Place’
PHILADELPHIA - Many were overcome by the emotion of Jason Kelce’s retirement speech on Monday in South Philadelphia and others basked in the regaling of the top moments in what is sure to be the Hall of Fame career for the Philadelphia Eagles’ All-Pro center.
For this reporter, Kelce’s words about his teammates and the camaraderie of an NFL locker room hit home the most because it’s a subject I first wrote about over a decade ago.
“I want to thank my teammates, my other brothers,” Kelce said. “Oh, how I have drawn my strengths from you all. I was fortunate to play with great players. Some of the best this league has to offer. But it was really off the field, just sitting in the cafeteria with my teammates, breaking bread, and talking about life, that were some of the more meaningful times I’ve spent in my career."
Amid a society being stressed too often untenable levels by bad actors trying to divide us by any means necessary, be it by class, race, religion, or politics, it occurred to me that an NFL locker room is one of the most inclusive places I’ve ever been privileged to witness.
Those who’ve never observed it tend to roll their eyes when that thesis has been advanced defaulting to the stereotypes that have been indoctrinated into them by those same bad actors.
How could a bunch of alpha males playing a violent sport be the most progressive of all?
Well, they are.
The always sharped-dressed DeVonta Smith
Ed Kracz/Eagles Today
“The NFL is truly like no other place, and at the same time, represents America as a whole like no other,” Kelce said while trying to hold back tears. “Fat offensive linemen from Cleveland playing on the same field as skinny wide receivers from Louisiana, and kickers from Chicago. Tight ends from Stanford playing next to tackles from Kilgore Community College. Defensive ends from inner city Detroit playing next to defensive tackles from Yazoo City, Mississippi. 6--foot-9 Jordan Mailata plays the same sport as 4-foot-8 Darren Sproles.
“The melting pot of geographic location, economic background, race, body type, personality, and athletic traits of an NFL locker room is truly remarkable."
You can turn on cable news at any point today and listen to activists from both ends of the political spectrum paying lip service to what NFL players do routinely.
The actions of those same grifters exploit differences to foster disrespect and distrust, all to garner even an extra inch of political power, intimating someone like Kelce, with his flip flops and Ocean Drive t-shirt has nothing in common with the impeccably dressed DeVonta Smith.
Or that Zach Ertz’s Stanford education places him on a higher plane than the community college Lane Johnson started at. Somehow city-dweller Brandon Graham has dressed next to country bumpkin Fletcher Cox for years while becoming the best of friends and a big, affable Aussie with an angel’s voice like Mailata can still relate to the vertically-challenged Midwestern running back with the stutter like Sproles.
It’s not magic nor is it perfect but it is something worth championing.
"We all rely on each other and respect one another, and each of our differences because we know we’re stronger together,” Kelce explained.
The next chapter will hopefully bring Kelce joy and even more success but he is keenly aware that the camaraderie with his teammates will be tough to replace in the civilian world.
“I will always cherish this brotherhood, the relationships it fostered, and how unique an experience it has been to enjoy the field with you all," Kelce said of his teammates. "Coming to work every day with a group of men who were driven to be the best in the world at what they do is an environment that will be surely hard to replicate.”
