Being one of the best centers of his time, Jason Kelce made a lot of money, especially in his final years. But despite deserving every penny, Jason believes he was overpaid since he was playing the sport he loved from childhood—something that started as just fun.
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Now, in retirement, Jason feels the same way about his new career in media. In fact, he’s making even more through media deals than he did as a football player, where every snap meant putting his body on the line. But that’s no longer the case, and to him, it almost feels like “stealing money.”
That phrase came from Charles Barkley, who built a massive media career after his Hall of Fame NBA run. He joked that working in sports media is one of the easiest ways for former athletes to cash in — and Jason couldn’t agree more.
“Hey, you ain’t lying, stealing money is a great way to describe it,” Jason said (via The Stream Room). “It’s fun, it’s a lot of fun. I get paid to just talk about something I love and to do it with a lot of like-minded people.”
Elaborating on why he claims it feels like he is stealing money, Jason pointed out how much easier media work is compared to playing in the NFL—especially executing the grueling Tush Push for the Eagles. Yet, despite the physical toll of football, he’s now earning even more just from his podcast alone, not to mention other media ventures he’s taken on.
“I mean it’s crazy when you really think about it. I spent 13 years doing plays like the Tush Push and beating the crap out of my body. And I mean even that I felt like I was getting overpaid to do. I was getting overpaid to play a game that I did voluntarily as a child and I got to do that for 13 years in an incredible city.”
Jason made more than $85 million from his 13 years in the league. While in his final year, he made more than $14 million as the highest-paid center in the NFL in 2023. As per Spotrac, the average salary of a center was $2,394,058 for the year 2024.
What makes the future HOFer even more grateful is that he’s not just earning more from his likeness now, but also getting to work alongside other big names.
“Now I get paid more money to just talk about it, which is insane to me. Like it keeps changing, but it’s awesome, I work with a lot of great people whether it’s with the podcast with my brother, The Late Night Show, with NFL Films. ESPN obviously has set me up fantastically and been great for launching this next part of my career, so I am very blessed to be able to work with all these fine people.”
With his wife, Kylie, entering the podcasting world as well, it appears the Kelce family has figured out how to rake in the moolah just from podcasting. And why not? They have a wide following, spanning sports, pop culture, and the city of Philadelphia.
Although many Philly fans would love to see Jason back in the Lincoln Financial Field as a coach, that idea appears to be far-fetched, since he would simply make more from just talking about the game. And he is making strides in improving himself in that craft too.
“I just look forward to getting better at it just like that’s one of the things I do enjoy the most is there’s feedback and you want to improve and you want to do as good of a job as possible for the people that are tuning in and uh I’m looking forward to continuing that journey.”
With that, one may expect to see Jason more on TV and less on the field. Meanwhile, other networks would love to bank on his likeness and his exceptional skills to tailgate with any NFL fanbase.
