ESPN Is ‘Fine With Jason Kelce Being Around Eagles in Unofficial Capacity’

The Eagles will begin the post-Jason Kelce Era Friday evening when they face off with the Green Bay Packers in Brazil, but the six-time All-Pro is hardly out of sight, out of mind. 

In fact, Kelce and fellow recent retiree Fletcher Cox were at the forefront of the hype video that the Eagles released before their Week 1 tilt: 

YO! Eagles football is back. 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/Z1r15gDiHz

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 5, 2024

Kelce will perhaps be even more present on your televisions post-playing career. Surely, he'll be in a slew of commercials, many with his brother Travis. Kelce will also be part of ESPN's "Monday Night Countdown," beginning with a Week 1 matchup between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers. 

So how does his current employer feel about Kelce having a continued relationship with the franchise he spent his entire 13-year playing career with? 

In a statement to Jenna Lemoncelli of The New York Post, ESPN said they are “fine with Jason being around the Eagles in an unofficial capacity."

This whole conversation stems from a report earlier this week from ESPN's Seth Wickersham that if Tom Brady is approved as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, his access in his role as the color commentator on FOX's No. 1 broadcast team would be greatly restricted. According to the report, "Brady would not be permitted to be in another team's facility, would not be permitted to witness practice and would not be permitted to attend broadcast production meetings, either in person or virtually." To say that Brady would be doing his job with one hand tied behind his back if those restrictions go into place would be understating it. 

Of course, Kelce isn't working for the Eagles just because he's in a hype video or will make occasional appearances around the team. He pointed that out in a recent episode of his "New Heights" podcast. 

"For me, I’m not accepting any money from the Eagles. I don’t have an official position," Kelce said. "I’m really just going there out of pure interest on my own to keep my knowledge of the game up. And, obviously, I’ve built up a lot of relationships with the people around that building that I’m gonna help out in any way I can. But the reality is, that’s not my job." 

Kelce also will be much less privy to inside knowledge as an analyst — even if he's on site for some games — than Brady would be as a broadcaster. They are two entirely different roles. Coaches will sometimes plant seeds with broadcasters, hoping they will set the narrative for why things are unfolding the way they are to viewers. That dynamic is much less prevalent with analysts. 

Certainly, there is a discussion to be had here about picking a lane, something that seems to be happening far too rarely in sports and political media. If it's your job to give analysis, you shouldn't be biting your tongue because you're using your platform to try to line up your next job and don't want to piss anyone off. Brady owning a portion of a team is a massive conflict of interest, and while the NFL would be right to put these restrictions in place if he's approved, there really should be a question of whether No. 12 should even be allowed to continue in his role if he's actively profiting off of one of the 32 franchises. 

This conversation, though, really doesn't pertain to Kelce. Michael Strahan has been uber-successful as a studio analyst on FOX — among a million other media jobs — while not shying away from the fact that he's a New York Giants icon. There's no reason Kelce can't toe that line with the Eagles.