Jason Kelce traded in his football for a baseball Saturday, March 30, as he threw out the first pitch at the Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves game at Citizens Bank Park.
The retired Eagles center, who announced his departure from the NFL earlier this month, attended the game with his wife, Kylie Kelce, and his former Eagles teammate and fellow retiree Fletcher Cox, with whom he made the ceremonial first pitch.
Jason, 36, wore a red and white striped Phillies shirt, jeans and red baseball cap to the game, and even took the time to sign first baseman Bryce Harper’s cleats before becoming an honorary commentator with NBC Sports.
Kylie, 31, smiled alongside Jason — and the Phillies mascot Phanatic — while enjoying her sunny mom’s day out in a white sweatshirt with red Phillies lettering. She shares daughters Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 3, and Bennett, 1, with Jason.
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“Today’s first pitch: Go Birds forever ,” the Phillies Instagram page shared, alongside photos of Jason and Cox, 33, sharing the mound and posing with players.
“Got a couple legends in the house today,” another caption on Instagram read, referring to the two former NFL players.
Apparently, Jason was a little nervous about his pitching skills ahead of the throw, commenting on X Wednesday, March 27, “To be clear @fcoxx_91 is gonna have to throw it because my elbow doesn’t work but it turns out.”
The ol’ arm looked to be fine for showtime, though, as Jason “let it fly,” according to NBC Philly sports commentators. His performance was much better than brother Travis’ showing at a Cleveland Guardians game back in April 2023. Travis, 34, spiked his attempt into the ground about halfway to home plate, only for the pitch to bounce back up and nearly hit Guardians pitcher Shane Bieber in the face.
“I really jumped off Opening Day in Cleveland last year,” Travis said on the recent episode of “New Heights.” “You and Fletcher Cox? See, this is how they got me. They said, ‘You and Mom are going to throw out the first pitch,’ and then Mom was like, ‘You got it.’ I was like, ‘Mom, I didn’t practice.’”
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Jason and Cox joined MLB announcers in the booth for part of the game Saturday, cheering on Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto as he hit a solo home run in the 3rd inning. “Hell yeahhh, baby! There we go, J.T.,” Jason shouted.
The Braves won the game, however, 9-3.
@nbcsphilly With Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox in the booth, J.T. Realmuto goes yard!
Jason has remained pretty busy since announcing his retirement. He’s continued his run on the “New Heights” podcast with brother Travis, pranked Kylie, posed as an Uber driver for a former teammate and even made an appearance on sitcom Abbott Elementary.
And he’s a hot commodity for networks looking to book him for on-air roles. Us Weekly confirmed a report from The Athletic on Wednesday that Jason is in the running to cohost ESPN’s Monday Night Football pregame show. CBS, NBC and Prime Video are also reportedly after his services, with The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand calling Jason “the linchpin of the NFL TV free-agent season.”