“We want Kelce! We want Kelce!”
It seems like those chants are coming from everywhere these days. On Wednesday, it was at Ocean Drive in Sea Isle City, N.J., but just a few days earlier, Jason and Travis Kelce arrived with massive fanfare at the Eras Tour in London. Before that, it was the Cannes Lions festival in France. And before that — well, you get the idea.
Jason Kelce is no longer Philadelphia’s little secret. He hasn’t been for a long time — not since the Kelce Bowl, at least. Even in retirement, his popularity has continued to skyrocket, ranging from Taylor Swift fans to all the way across the pond. A number of fans excitedly posted selfies from Wembley Stadium with Jason and his wife, Kylie — including one young Eagles fan.
“School was mental; people were calling me famous,” said Aiden Walker, the British Eagles fan Jason surprised at the Eras Tour this weekend. “My friends all know Jason now.”
» READ MORE: Jason Kelce surprised a 13-year-old Eagles fan at the Eras Tour in London: ‘It felt like a Rocky moment’
Everywhere Kelce goes, fans follow. His jersey was the most popular for an offensive lineman in league history this year. He and Travis host one of the most popular podcasts in the world, New Heights, which Jason joked on the June 19 episode is now more lucrative than playing for the Eagles.
“It’s the best thing ever — who doesn’t love the podcast?” Jason said. “This is my full-time job now, Travis. I don’t know if you know that. I know you’re still working hard and running routes. I just play golf and talk to you and I’m making more money than I ever did playing [laughs].”
» READ MORE: Jason and Travis Kelce went to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in London this weekend. Here’s what happened.
But Kelce also has a number of new opportunities outside the podcast. Before taking over the Shore this week: Kelce joined ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown; invested in Garage Beer; appeared in the ring with Lane Johnson at WrestleMania 40; earned his own custom Campbell’s Chunky soup can; had murals painted in his honor; was named the “King of the Grill” by Kingsford Charcoal; got his Wawa order included on the official Hoagiefest menu; met royalty; threw out the first pitch at a Phillies game; hosted his own golf outing with hired hecklers; had his own Jeopardy! category; was honored with his own bobblehead; and (somehow) more.
So if it feels as if the former Eagles center has been everywhere since his retirement, that’s because he has. And he’s still got more in the works, including a partnership with General Mills on a custom cereal.
“I’m probably more busy than I’ve ever been,” Kelce said ahead of his annual celebrity bartending event Wednesday in Sea Isle. “Part of that is because it’s more chaotic and I travel a lot more, the things that I’m signing on for are all over the place.”
» READ MORE: Jason Kelce took over Sea Isle again. Here are some highlights from his celebrity bartending event.
The best part of his retirement so far? Watching his daughters at gymnastics, Kelce said. And of course, that trip to London.
The Kelces were already on the way up after the Super Bowl, and Jason’s documentary series dropped on Prime Video last fall, but it’s impossible to tell the story of their meteoric rise to worldwide fame without Swift.
“There’s no question — I mean, it’s more changed Travis’ [life],” Kelce said. “We just want to be supportive of him and their relationship and everything that they got going on because it’s so wonderful right now. He’s my brother. He’s always going to be my brother. It’s definitely a lot of fun.”
» READ MORE: Travis Kelce defends Kylie Kelce after viral interaction with ‘entitled’ fan in Margate
Kelce wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s having more fun now than he did with the Eagles. He’s still been around the facility, trying to keep his football mind sharp and focus on one of his favorite parts of playing the game — solving the “chess match” of what went wrong last season.
“A lot of it selfishly is trying to make sure I’m still in the game,” Kelce said. “Part of the thing that I enjoyed about football was, what are we doing to fix the mistakes we’ve made, either from the season before, from a game before, from the last time we played somebody. … Once you’re done playing, and you’re not involved in those conversations, the game evolves so fast. If you’re not staying involved in those conversations, if you’re not maintaining communication with the guys and people that are still doing it, you’re going to be phased out even quicker, so for me, selfishly, I get to maintain that.”
Staying around the facility also helps Kelce keep the camaraderie of the NFL locker room, even though he’s no longer playing. But having the flexibility to come in and out as he pleases, rather than locked in to his offseason training regimen, helps him take on new opportunities.
“I can say yes to more things,” Kelce said Wednesday. “The schedule is more open. It’s not as entrenched which has caused me to be probably more chaotic in some ways, not as organized. I still lift three times a week. I’m not doing that much different than I ever do during the offseason. But I am missing the meetings. I am missing being around the guys. That’s something that you can’t replace.”
