“They know how to spell it now,” Jason said on their “New Heights” podcast
- On New Heights, the brothers reminisced about a spelling error dating back to the 2011 NFL Draft
- In a tweet announcing Jason being drafted, the Eagles spelled his last name “Kelsey”
- After Travis mentioned his brother’s accomplishments, Jason used the opportunity to echo his retirement speech, and called himself “overrated” as a player
Jason and Travis Kelce are setting the record straight about the spelling of their last name.
On the latest episode of the brothers’ podcast New Heights, Travis revealed to his brother that the Philadelphia Eagles actually misspelled “Kelce” when the team announced on Twitter that they had drafted Jason as the 191st pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
A screenshot of the Eagles’ tweet then appeared on the screen: “The #Eagles select C Jason Kelsey from Cincinnati with the 191st pick!”
“Completely botched your name and now you’re the greatest player to ever play in the Eagles uniform,” Travis told Jason, who said he hadn’t realized the mistake at the time.
Travis then continued with the compliment, and added: “They know how to spell your name at least now, it’s probably gonna be on the stadium at some point.”
Yet Jason, who is widely lauded as one of the greatest centers in NFL history and is viewed as a lock for the NFL Hall of Fame, had a more restrained view of his own accomplishments in the league.
About a career which spanned 13 seasons and led to seven Pro Bowl selections, six first-team All-Pro selections and one Super Bowl title, Jason echoed the sentiments he shared in his retirement speech about being “overrated.”
“I firmly like that most of my career had to be earned,” he said on the podcast. “It is crazy how overrated I am. I’m not even close to the best Eagle in my time with the Philadelphia Eagles”
Jason continued, “Like Fletcher Cox, Jason Peters, Lane Johnson. There are so many people who have meant more to wins and losses and have been better players.”
“Maybe in the stat book,” Travis interjected.
“Not just the stat book,” Jason returned, “Like, I couldn’t block Fletcher Cox one-on-one. Like, it’s a legitimate thing. The credit that I’ve gotten has been because of the work that’s been put in.”
Jason’s comments continued a theme from his retirement speech.
“So this all brings us here to today, where I announce that I am retiring,” Kelce said, through tears, nearly 40 minutes into his speech on Monday. “Where I announce I am retiring from the NFL after 13 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and today, I must admit, I am officially overrated, vastly overrated.”
On this week’s podcast, with time to reflect on the accolades and good will shown from family, fans and the Eagles about his retirement, Jason allowed one moment to show he was proud of his own accomplishments.
“They didn’t know how to spell my name back then,” he said. “They know how to spell it now.”