PHILADELPHIA – Jason Kelce added the label anthem singer to his list of talents as the Eagles center belted out the Star-Spangled banner to a sold out 76ers crowd on Monday night.
Kelce took in the ovation from the crowd as he came out to center court, then sang the anthem before the Sixers played the Denver Nuggets.
But it wasn’t easy for Kelce, who said he was “as nervous nervous as I’ve been in years,” adding: “My knees were shaking out there during the soundcheck.”
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It seemed like an odd thing for Kelce to say, considering he plays in front of 70,000 fans at Lincoln Financial Field each home game during the season, not to mention as many or more fans on the road.
And Kelce, of course, is perhaps most known for giving a memorable speech, dressed in a Mummers costume, in front of hundreds of thousands of fans at the Eagles’ Super Bowl parade in Feb. 2018.
That speech at the parade made Kelce a Philadelphia icon. His anthem singing only solidified that. Of course, so has pretty much everything Kelce has done over the past several years.
That included the way he announced his decision last week to return for a 12th season with the Eagles. Kelce posted a video about his decision to return while taking a sip from the keg of beer that head coach Nick Sirianni sent him to convince him.
Kelce, 34, is coming off his fourth Pro Bowl season and fourth All-Pro season.
And yes, Kelce confirmed, the beer helped. Kelce has contemplated retirement in each of the past four offseasons, deciding to return each time.
But he admitted this year was the closest he came to actually retiring.
“That was definitely a help, for sure,” Kelce said about the beer with a laugh. “You always want to play right after the season is over. You try to let the emotions of the season to calm down, and really get a gauge gauge where you’re at.
“The more you step back from the game, it was really evident that I wanted to keep playing, that I’m not done yet. I feel really good for where the team’s at.”
But mostly, it was the fact that Kelce was healthy during the season and the Eagles turned around a 2-5 start to finish 7-3 to make the playoffs.
Kelce said he had no interest in playing for another team.
Kelce signed a one-year contract worth $14 million upon returning. It’s expected that his salary cap hit will be spread out over the next two years.
Even Kelce admitted that he’s on “borrowed time.”
Kelce has started 122 straight games, the longest active streak among NFL centers. And he’s only 10 games away from setting the Eagles’ record for most games played by an Eagles’ offensive lineman.
Kelce has played in 159 games, all starts, since the Eagles drafted him in the sixth round in 2011.
Kelce was singing the anthem in support of his former teammate Connor Barwin as a motivator to meet Barwin’s goal of raising $100,000 for Barwin’s Make The World Better Foundation.
“I don’t plan on doing this all over the place for nothing,” Kelce said with a laugh.
So this might be the end of Kelce’s singing career, or maybe the start once his playing days are over. At least we know that won’t be for at least another year.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
