Jason Kelce‘s emotional retirement speech has prompted a wave of praise for not only the former Philadelphia Eagles center’s athletic career performance, but his upbringing as well. Internet users have taken to social media to applaud the pro athlete’s parents, Ed and Donna Kelce, for raising both him and his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, to have what seems to be a high level of “emotional intelligence.”
“I won’t forget falling short to the Chiefs,” he admitted at one point during the announcement, adding that “This is where it’s going to go off the rails,” referring to he and his brother’s face-off during Super Bowl 2023, where the Chiefs came out victorious.
“It was really my brother and I our whole lives. We did almost everything together-competed, fought, laughed, cried, and learned from each other,” he said through tears. “There is no chance I’d be here without the bond that Travis and I share.”
He later opened up about meeting his wife Kylie and having his three daughters. “I won’t forget the Eagles Christmas party in 2014, and heading out afterward with a bunch of my teammates to Buffalo Billiards, where my life would change forever,” he recalled while getting choked up.
“That night, I’d meet my future wife.” Jason continued: “I still remember the moment she walked through the door. The first instance is burned into my retina. It was like she glided through the opening, an aura around her, then she started talking. And I thought, ‘Man, is this what love feels like?’”
After the New Heights podcast co-host described Kylie as “beautiful and smart, serious yet playful,” he shared that he “knew it right away” she was the one.
Jason broke down several times during his press conference announcement on Monday, March 4, where he could barely hold it together while speaking on how much the game of football means to him-but it was most notably his appreciation for all the people in his life that got a major reaction out of fans, who had no shortage of reactions to how willing he was to display his vulnerability. Many didn’t waste time in taking to social sharing platforms to credit his parents.
“Jason Kelces daughters are so lucky to have a dad who shows that it’s okay to cry. The emotional intelligence will mean everything to his daughters.
Travis showcases the same thing, and his future kids are just as lucky. Kudos to Donna and Ed for raising two great men” one wrote, mentioning Travis, who was also spotted wiping away tears behind his sunglasses at the event.
“Donna and ed raised him jason right the way he talk about kylie is how every guy should talk about their partner,” another agreed, while a third added, “donna and ed.. this is also a testament to your amazing parenting.” “I just want to shout out Donna and Ed for raising their sons it’s okay to show emotion cause lord knows I’m crying now,” another X user admitted.
Someone else suggested Mama and Papa Kelce’s parenting skills be studied, chiming in with, “Donna and Ed truly need to write a book about how they raised these men. To be so emotionally intelligent and aware. How they put the boys FIRST when their marriage dissolved. Truly a huge kudos to them.”
The NFL brothers were raised in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, by both of their parents, before the two divorced several years ago.
