Since retiring from the NFL following the 2023 season, Jason Kelce has not exactly been kicking back with his feet up. He’s got his own pseudo-late-night talk show, he appears regularly as an NFL analyst for ESPN, and he’s got his massively popular podcast with his fellow NFL star brother, Travis.
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But with the NFL season all wrapped up, Kelce has found himself with a little more time on his hands just now. He jetted off to Milan for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and took in some of the action over the past week or so.
He wasn’t there to work, though. Instead, Kelce was able to enjoy the athletics and the culture around Milan. On a recent episode of his New Heights podcast with Travis, he said that none other than Rich Eisen’s wife was providing him and his own wife, Kylie, with dining tips.
“Man, I can’t pronounce any of the restaurants we went to,” Kelce joked. “We took the metro down near the Duomo area. We did a couple of restaurants that Suzy Shuster, Rich Eisen’s wife, recommended some of these spots.”
Italian cuisine is known as one of the best in the world and is often imitated, especially in the U.S. But while the Philadelphia Eagles great said he enjoyed the excellent Italian fare on offer, he did end up missing his go-to food staples from back home.
“We had some unbelievable food.. but I did have a cheeseburger promptly when I got back to the United States,” Kelce admitted. “There’s just something. Don’t get me wrong, I love travelling, but I was just like all this pasta and everything is great—but I’m missing a cheeseburger and french fries right now man.”
While Kelce was dreaming of cheeseburgers in front of the largest cathedral in Italy, which took six centuries to complete, his wife, Kylie, was busy working for NBC and YouTube. Jason is usually the most famous person in his couple, but he experienced the other side in Milan.
“Kylie was there on behalf of NBC and YouTube, I really was just there to have fun and enjoy the Olympics,” Jason said. “100% the correct way to say it and I thought it was hilarious. … I wanted to tell them, I prefer ball and chain.”
Jason headed to the fame backseat and clearly took it in stride. No doubt he was happy to have his wife be the center of attention for once, as he was likely able to move around Milan and the Olympics in general without too much fanfare. Not Jason Kelce, All-Pro center, but merely Jason Kelce, All-Pro husband.
Or, as he prefers, the ol’ ball and chain.
