January 18, 2024
Kim Klement Neitzel/USA Today Sports
Jason Kelce summed up what it takes to succeed in Philly two seasons ago. This year's Eagles failed to learn that lesson.
Jason Kelce is awesome.
I wanted to wait a couple of days before writing something about how the Philadelphia Eagles let us all down because Kelce deserves his moment. Retiring or not, Kelce goes down as one of the most relatable athletes to ever play in Philadelphia, and that is obvious
He’s done so much for this city and the fans on top of helping to bring a Super Bowl. He’s a philanthropist, father, husband, and seems to really enjoy being a fun human being.
Jason Kelce is also a time traveler.
Kelce truly issued a warning to his current teammates masked in comments about Ben Simmons. His comments may have been looked at in response to Simmons complaints about Philadelphia, but he was talking directly to Nick Sirianni and the rest of this season's Eagles.
Any player who spent time in this city before winning the Super Bowl through this past season, like Kelce, has the best vision of survival as a player/coach in this city. He’s seen the worst and the best of this fanbase, media, and even former players of all sports.
It was a stark warning of how pandering will never outplay performance. How easy it is to play in this city without needing any list or commandments. He mentioned how any baseball player can live comfortably in Philly if he just runs to first, especially an out. Take that and apply it across the board, any sport or athlete to cross city lines and play for us.
But it’s more than just telling us the right things. That was the message from Kelce coming into practice while “addressing” Simmons.
This is the most important thing Jason Kelce ever said to the media, fans, and future teammates. pic.twitter.com/8544TXaypT
— Eytan (@shandershow) January 16, 2024
We go back to Oct. 21, 2021, where Kelce gave sobering advice that was ultimately ignored, Kelce said, "This city appreciates accountability, appreciates people being very honest, real, emotionally invested, caring.”
He’s talking to Sirianni, Hurts, Howie Roseman, Matt Patricia, Sean Desai, and anyone else complicit in this year’s Eagles team quitting. The level of quit from this team was so palpable.
It looked like a team trying to quit their way out of a head coach, at least coordinators. What about the Eagles' final stretch illustrated being emotionally invested? Nothing. Kelce warned his future teammates about “accountability” too, not just saying the right stuff, but using it as means for change.
Nothing changed down the stretch for the Eagles outside of a defensive coordinator. It got worse because the team quit on the new guy. This is the one thing that is so troubling because I too would have quit on Patricia. So would you.
Sirianni let it happen. So did Hurts. They all did. It was a disgusting thing to watch because we care so much about this team and the players who wear the jersey.
We are emotionally invested every damn year. So, when we don’t get that back, it stings even worse.
Kelce continued, “There’s a lot of people who say it’s a hard place to play, I think it’s pretty f*****g easy to be honest with you. You just go out there, play hard. You want to be loved in this city as a baseball player? Run to first base. They’re gonna f*****g love you. That's what it comes down to.”
The Eagles ran out every single ground ball to first base last season. They walked their way to the bag in the final stretch. It was brutal to watch, and Kelce tried to warn them, especially knowing what’s coming after playing in a Super Bowl.
The next part from a younger, blonder version of Kelce was a direct warning to these Eagles. Sitting at the podium, he did all he could for Sirianni and Hurts, “If go come up here and make a bunch of excuses, you come up here and try to lie to them and act like they don’t know what they are talking about — which sometimes they don’t. When you act that way, or when you’re unaccountable for your mistakes, or you're not getting better or anything like that. They are gonna crush you.”
Don’t lie to us.
We may not know anywhere near the amount of what’s going on, some have more of an inkling than others, but we can see a team collapse from miles away.
You could see it from outer space.
The biggest failure of this season wasn’t this collapse, rather the dismissive attitude enabling failure to live rent free inside the NovaCare. All the while, we were shoveled a load of bullshit that never amounted to anything more than the same result the following week.
I’m on cliché overload. I heard enough. None of those phrases or sayings netted anything positive, just another opportunity to mask the stink of failure.
We owe a lot to Jason Kelce for what he’s done on and off the field. Stating this warning for anyone who ever plays in Philadelphia is one of his lasting gems.
Eytan Shander is a long time radio and TV personality in Philadelphia. In addition to his weekly column, you can currently listen and watch him on Fox29’s Good Day and other sports shows. He’s giving betting advice on OddsShopper. A lifetime Eagles fan, Eytan lives just outside the city with his wife.
Follow Eytan on Twitter: @shandershow
