The Eagles-Cowboys rivalry is among the fiercest in the NFL. The fanbases can’t stand each other, and in some cases, the animosity extends over to the players themselves.
For 13 seasons, Jason Kelce battled the Cowboys twice a year as a member of the Eagles. This year, he will have to cover two Dallas games as part of ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown.
During the newest episode of his “New Heights” podcast with brother Travis, Jason was asked how he’ll handle the responsibility of discussing his former team’s most-hated rival.
“Oh, I have no bias,” Jason explained, via Awful Announcing. “I just don’t like them. But I’m gonna give them their props. There’s a rivalry, but the reality is, even though I hate the Cowboys’ fanbase…I was at a charity golf outing, and there was a kid, and he was like, ‘Hey, I’m a Cowboys fan.’ I was like, ‘Oh, are you from Dallas?’ And he said, ‘No, I’m from Philadelphia.’ Are you a Lakers and a Yankees fan, too? Like, what are we doing? We’re just picking whatever team we want; that’s where we’re at?”
Jason added that he’ll be able to “set aside my differences as a player and the competition,” but then Travis interrupted him to call him out for being a Pittsburgh Steelers fan growing up in Cleveland.
“I had to; we didn’t have a team,” Jason explained. “We lost our team. The next closest team was the Pittsburgh Steelers, geographically, and I loved Jerome Bettis. I couldn’t keep being a Browns fan when they went to be the Ravens. There wasn’t a team to root for, Travis… the moment the Browns came back, I got a Tim Couch jersey, and I was rocking Tim Couch. I still loved Jerome Bettis, but I was no longer a Steelers fan once the Browns came back.”
Kelce will work two Dallas home games on Monday Night Football, starting Week 11 against the Houston Texans. He’ll be back at Jerry World in Week 14 when the Cowboys host the Cincinnati Bengals.
It will be interesting to see the kind of reception he gets from Dallas fans when on assignment. Our guess is there will be some booing and good-natured taunting, but a mutual respect will outweigh any concerns over the Cowboys-Eagles rivalry.