After 13 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, All-Pro center Jason Kelce felt it was finally time to walk away from the game, as he announced his retirement in a tearful press conference on Monday.

Over the last few years, Kelce had flirted with the idea of retiring, as he was asking former NFL players what retirement was like and what challenges he’ll face once he finally does decide to hang up his cleats.

Although the prospect of retiring seemed like a scary proposition to Kelce, he has set himself up for success in his post-playing career, with him and his brother Travis Kelce having one of the most popular sports podcasts out there called “New Heights.”

The consensus seems to be that no matter what the Eagles legend decides to do in retirement, he’ll be successful at it, which may be why he decided now is the time to call it a career.

With Kelce making the announcement publicly, former Houston Texans superstar J.J. Watt took to Twitter to say that Kelce is a surefire Hall of Famer and congratulated the now-former Eagles center for an incredible career in the NFL.

 

Along with the Eagles having a big void to fill at the center position, Kelce will begin his post-playing career this NFL offseason and likely won’t be out of the limelight, as he could make the transition to analyst as many of his peers have done like Watt.

With Kelce having a great personality, he might be able to make a similar transition to that of NBA legend Charles Barkley, with a kind of unfiltered approach.