Eagles Jason Kelce Earns All-Pro Honors

PHILADELPHIA – For the third straight year, Eagles center Jason Kelce was named first team All-Pro by the Associated Press.

Kelce received 29 first-place votes among the panel of 50 voters to easily outdistance runner-up Rodney Hudson of the Oakland Raiders. Now 32, Kelce has been the anchor of the Eagles offensive line since entering the league as a sixth-round draft pick out of the University of Cincinnati in 2011. He has started every game since 2015, a string of 80 consecutive starts.

Kelce didn’t have much to say about the honor following Friday’s practice, telling reporters: “Obviously whenever your recognized it’s nice. You try to remain grounded.”

Kelce then hesitated, shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t know.”

Head coach Doug Pederson, though, gave Kelce high praise on Friday morning.

“I could spend the whole press conference here and longer talking about Jason Kelce and what he means personally to me and then what he means to this football team and this organization,” said Pederson. “He’s one of the guys that just epitomizes what we’re all about. His toughness, his mental and physical toughness. I think about the offseason, he’s one of the first guys back in the building within a few weeks after your season is over, back in the weight room.

“That’s the type of guy he is. He’s hungry for the next game, for the next opportunity. That’s the way he is. That’s the way he prepares during the week. He puts his body through the grind each and every week. He’s so sharp mentally, on point with the game plan. He’s a center that I don’t know if I’ve been around a center that can do the things athletically, number one, then mentally, number two, that Kelce does. It’s pretty impressive.”

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Kelce, 32, has considered retirement at the end of each season, and will likely do so again whenever this season concludes. His shoes would certainly be big ones to fill when that day arrives.

As for Kelce’s offensive line teammates, Lane Johnson and Brandon Brooks, they received votes, but not enough to make either the first or second team All-Pro.

Brooks, who is scheduled to have shoulder surgery next week to repair a broken bone in that area, received nine first-place votes and was third in the voting. Ahead of him were Dallas’ Zach Martin (24) and Baltimore’s Marshal Yanda (16).

Johnson has missed four games so far this season, but the right tackle picked up three votes, placing third behind New Orleans’ Ryan Ramczyk (30) and Kansas City’s Mitchell Schwartz (13).

On defense, Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox got one vote each.