Grotz: Jason Kelce the Philly family man gets a Prime showing

PHILADELPHIA — A dozen Augusts ago the Eagles were in the middle of their Dream Team training camp at Lehigh University.

From Nnamdi Asomugha to Vince Young, almost every day there was a marquee free agent signing. Spoiler alert: That team went 8-8. None of the free agent acquisitions are likely to gain entrance into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Flying under the radar was then-rookie Jason Kelce, who was getting snaps at center largely because the late Howard Mudd, an innovative veteran offensive line coach, saw something in the sixth-round pick out of Cincinnati that no one else did. Scouting reports knocking Kelce for being too small and more of a blocking tight end or H-back are collectors items these days. Kelce is a certain first-year HOFer, having earned first team All-Pro honors the past five years and six Pro Bowl team berths.

But back to Lehigh, which was hot, buggy and isolated back then.

Outside the team’s locker room at the Goodman Campus, Kelce had a lengthy post-practice conversation with an older gentleman outfitted in business clothes. Almost everyone else was gone, fans included, basically to enjoy the rest of the weekend off.

Kelce gave the man a bear hug, and in an interview shortly thereafter said, “That was my father. He’s a salesman and he has to go back to work.”

It was Ed Kelce, a sales rep in the steel industry. The apple didn’t far fall from the tree. Jason and his younger brother Travis, tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, parlayed their passions for rolling up their sleeves and playing football into an amazing family success story culminating in their Super Bowl LVII showdown that will come to light in the upcoming Prime Video documentary “Kelce.”

Connor Barwin, now in Eagles player development, teamed with Kelce on the Eagles from 2013-16 and suggested, along with a local film company, that Kelce appear in “a documentary on transitioning out of football.”

That was … “Two years ago,” Kelce said with a wink.

That’s how long Kelce has thought about hanging up his spikes, only to go into his personal darkness retreat and emerge wanting to play another season.

“I thought it might be fun to go through that organically and to see what it’s like to transition out of the NFL from a health perspective, a financial perspective, touch on stories, things like that; and to just go through that on film,” Kelce said. “We’ve been filming the last couple years. Last year we had enough footage and when it was whether I was going to retire or not at the end of the season, the couple that had been helping us put it together said we think we have a film here if you want to make a film, whether you retire or not.”

Plan B kicked into action when Kelce came back for another year with the Eagles.

“It’s kind of what it’s like to go through an NFL season, all the different narratives that are happening, from the fans, the media, your coaches, you kind of get a good glimpse of what it’s like to be in the NFL from a lot of different perspectives,” Kelce said. “So, I think it’s great. I’m really proud of it and I’m excited to see it get up on Amazon and for people to enjoy it.”

You’ll see Kelce at work and play with a ton of Super Bowl LVII shots of himself, his parents and Travis, and some frames for his work in support of autism from Sea Isle City, N.J. There will also be Delaware County shots, for Jason and Kylie Kelce have three daughters and reside in Haverford.

Kelce became a Philly icon when he stepped up to the podium in a Mummers outfit after the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII championship parade attended by nearly 700,000 reached the Art Museum. That’s when Kelce ripped the team’s critics and launched into his refrain of “We’re from Philly … no one likes us and we don’t care.”

While Kelce has no problem laughing at the transitional premise that didn’t work, clearly he’s been conflicted about whether to stay in the game or perhaps to pursue something of a broadcasting career. His in season “The Heights” podcast with Travis is one of the most popular listens in sports. Kelce is natural for TV and radio.

Above all, Kelce is authentic and expressive. That was clear from the day his father visited him after work back in 2011 at Lehigh.

“It’s very emotional for me,” Kelce said. “My family’s in it, my wife’s a big part of it, my brother’s a big part of it, my teammates, our coaches, the city’s a big part of it. So it strikes a chord with me very heavily. It’s fun to kind of look back at that and have that documented even though it didn’t end with the best ending.”

The latter was a reference to retirement. That could be a little too emotional not just for Kelce, but Eagles fans, too.

Contact Bob Grotz at rgrotz@delcotimes.com; you can follow him @bobgrotz on Twitter.