Despite his on-field confidence, fresh-off retired Jason Kelce admits to jitters—this time for his appearance on ESPN’s MNF. He’s traded cleats for a headset, and this new gig brings a different kind of nervousness, as Kelce recently revealed on a podcast. 

In a conversation with Andrew Santino, when asked about his retirement and how he expects things to be with the media, Kelce declared having short-term goals. The structured format of broadcasting compared to the free-flowing nature of the NFL is a stark difference. 

The ex-NFLer said, “I have short-term goals. I just signed on with ESPN for Monday night football, so my short-term goal is to be prepared at a high level. I’ve talked to a lot of guys and this is different. Like the time segments that you have to be in and out of tighter, so there’s less freeness or less freedom.”

Jason Kelce, the newly retired Eagles’ star center, and Super Bowl champion possessed an outrageous disposition and served as a captain on the team. However, now he’s experiencing new problems—not on the football field, but working as an analyst on the set of the known ESPN MNF pregame show. Further, on the podcast, Santino jokingly asked Kelce if he was nervous about his appearance. And Kelce replied, “Oh, I am nervous, and I think that’s good. I think every game that I ever played in my life—that I played really well, I was nervous. But it was a healthy amount, not to the point where you’re like you can’t do it.” 

The ex-football center went on to explain that he always had a healthy amount of respect for his game and opponent. When he was against a really good player, he played really well, because all his time went into preparation. He added, “I studied it more, like I persevered about it when I was sleeping like I needed to make sure of this and that… it’s like when you put more effort into it because of the nervousness, I think it usually resolves for a better product. 

This fear might seem somewhat unusual for a man who is reportedly very loud most of the time. Nevertheless, adaptation from the active and full stimulus of the field to a more structured environment that is the studio has its own sets of difficulties. 

Beyond the Game: The hidden hurdles of athlete-to-analyst transitions

Jason Kelce remarked on the specifics of the broadcast and how he feared becoming an analyst on ESPN MNF. According to the USA Today network, “Monday Night Countdown” will star Kelce, Scott Van Pelt, Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears, Adam Schefter, and Michelle Beisner-Buck. This confirms rumors that Robert Griffin III would not likely be returning to the show. Apart from participating in the pregame program for MNF, Kelce will also be with Van Pelt and Clark during the intermission.

While the fear is understandable, it’s evident that one has to get some experience to deliver compact and meaningful remarks. Of course, only the one selected as the marquee forward can prosper in this new position, and Kelce most definitely deserves it. His experience as a player gives him first-hand experience plus an angle that analysts who were never players cannot bring to the table.