Philadelphia Eagles veteran Jason Kelce retired from football earlier this year but will be back covering the NFL for one of the league’s most prominent media partners next season

ESPN has won the race for Jason Kelce after beating out interest from Amazon, CBS and NBC.

Kelce, 36, retired in March after 13 seasons playing for the Philadelphia Eagles but will not be away from the league for long. The Super Bowl winner is joining Marcus Spears, Ryan Clark and host Scott Van Pelt on “Monday Night Countdown” this coming season.

The move represents Kelce’s first taste of traditional media after co-hosting the “New Heights” podcast with his brother and Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis, over the last 18 months. What turned out to be his final year as a pro was also the subject of the feature-length documentary “Kelce,” which aired on Prime Video.

But the role means the seven-time Pro Bowl selection will be at NFL stadiums again this fall as the network’s “Monday Night Football” pregame show goes on the road. The program also broadcasts from ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Conn.

“Monday Night Countdown” has constantly changed its cast over recent years, which will continue going into this season. Last year, Van Pelt replaced the laid-off Suzy Kolber, who had hosted the show since 2015.

The network also let go of Steve Young after decades on the show. Larry Fitzgerald and Robert Griffin III seem set to be the latest casualties.

Jason Kelce will not be returning to the “Thursday Night Football” pregame show despite making a guest appearance last season ( 
Image:
Getty Images)

As reported by The Athletic, who also broke the news about Kelce, Fitzgerald was out of contract as of February. Griffin, meanwhile, is seen as unlikely to return two years after replacing Randy Moss on the desk.

Kelce coming to ESPN is somewhat of a coup, as CBS and NBC were early favourites to land him. The former even held talks with him around the time of his retirement announcement. Front Office Sports also reported that Kelce met with Amazon, ESPN and FOX in Las Vegas during Super Bowl week.

Discussions with the former are said to have been about joining their “Thursday Night Football” coverage. Kelce had previously appeared as a guest on TNF during the Eagles’ bye week last season for a November game between the Carolina Panthers and the Chicago Bears.

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But that debut on the show and already having a documentary on the streaming service was not enough for Amazon to land Kelce. He has been preparing for a role away from the football field since at least last April when he joined 24 other players in attending the 16th Annual NFL Media Workshop. Kelce reflected on the experience afterward.

“This is all new territory for me,” he explained. “I have even more respect for it now. It’s very hard to do something live, reactive of stimulus that just happened and having something clever and meaningful to say.”

“It’s a lot easier when you’re sitting on the couch or have heard the name over and over. Certainly, some of the names are difficult to remember on the spot.”