Now that he’s retired, former All-Pro center Jason Kelce is spending more and more time reflecting on his incredible career. He recently looked back at Draft Day in 2011 and recalled when he could have easily been united with his brother.
Appearing on NFL Total Access, Kelce recalled that back in the 2011 NFL Draft, he knew that there were two teams that had expressed the most interest in him throughout the process: The Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Kansas City and the Philadelphia Eagles were the two teams that showed the most interest,” Kelce said.
He revealed that he knew he would be a later round pick so he didn’t want to watch the draft. But after going bowling, he got a phone call from a Philadelphia area code which turned out to be then-head coach Andy Reid.
Kelce said that Reid asked him if he was healthy before telling him that the Eagles had taken him in the sixth round with the 191st overall pick.
Within two years though, Reid would be gone and off to Kansas City. One of the first picks that Reid would make with the Chiefs was Kelce’s younger brother Travis, who has since gone on to win three Super Bowls while establishing himself as one of the most productive tight ends the league has ever seen.
Had the Chiefs taken Jason Kelce back in 2011, maybe the Kelce brothers would have been teammates for the majority of their careers.