For Jason Kelce, old habits die hard. And for fans outside Philadelphia, they’re getting old.
A couple of weeks ago, during “Monday Night Football,” Kelce referred to the Philadelphia Eagles as “we” during halftime of their Week 3 loss to the Chicago Bears and ESPN has said that needs to change.
“We’ve tried to get the ‘we’ out of him,” longtime ESPN producer Jeff Dufine told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Dufine noted that using “we” is a common mistake of former athletes and coaches when talking about their old teams.
“We played really well offensively, we had opportunities, we shot ourselves in the foot but we’ve moved the ball, we’ve ran the ball well,” Kelce said during the Sept. 28 broadcast.
Pat McAfee didn’t let Kelce’s comments slide, saying, “A lot of ‘we’ talk out of Jason for Philly.”
Kelce, who played for the Eagles for 13 seasons, later apologized for his slip-up. The 38-year-old announced the Eagles-Jaguars game in London on Sunday. Addressing his previous “we” comments, he assured Jaguars fans that he would do his best to remain neutral during the game.
“I want to assure Jags fans I’ve seen a lot of the Jags accounts already saying that they’re not looking forward to this,” Kelce said on “New Heights.” “I will be doing my utmost to give you guys the credit you deserve. Jacksonville’s playing as good as any team right now in the AFC. I really do believe that.”
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Social media users weren’t thrilled with Kelce’s performance in the booth Sunday , highlighting the former Eagles star’s perceived bias. At one point during the game, when the Eagles punted ball back to Jacksonville, Kelce said “we” punted the ball away.
“Here’s an idea. Keep him away from Eagles games,” one user wrote on X.
Another was a little harsher, asking, “have they tried getting the Jason Kelce out of the booth?”
“It felt like I was watching an Eagles preseason game,” a different fan posted on X.
“ESPN should get (Jason Kelce) out of the broadcast booth permanently,” an X user wrote.
Dufine on the other hand praised Kelce prior to announcing Eagles-Jaguars on Sunday.
“He sees the game really well,” Dufine said. “Just tell me what you’re seeing, and we’ll support you the best way we can throughout the course of the game.”
Kelce’s next assignment is announcing the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints on Oct. 25 in France.