Jason Kelce spent 13 seasons snapping the ball for the Philadelphia Eagles, and apparently that habit of thinking like an Eagle is harder to shake than ESPN would like. During the October 11 Eagles-Jaguars broadcast from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Kelce slipped and used “we” while describing Philadelphia giving the ball back on a punt, repeating a mistake producers had specifically coached him to avoid before kickoff.
The slip was no secret inside ESPN's production truck. Jeff Dufine, the longtime ESPN producer in his first season overseeing the network's international games broadcast, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Kelce “remains a work in progress” as a broadcaster and confirmed that the network has actively tried to get him to stop using “we” when referring to his former team. Dufine added that the mistake is a common one for professional athletes making the jump to the booth, framing Kelce's slip as part of a learning curve rather than a disqualifying flaw. Viewers on social media flagged the moment during the live broadcast, according to Awful Announcing.
The London game marked just Kelce's second full assignment in a broadcast booth. His color commentary debut came the week prior, on October 4, when he called the Indianapolis Colts versus Washington Commanders game on NFL Network, as part of a four-game international broadcast package he was assigned for the 2026 season. That timeline places his pronoun missteps squarely within his earliest live-game reps rather than a season's worth of on-air experience.
A Habit That Predates the Booth
This was not the first time Kelce's “we” slipped through on national television. During a September 28 halftime appearance on Monday Night Football alongside Scott Van Pelt and Pat McAfee, following the Chicago Bears' win over Philadelphia that day, Kelce referred to the Eagles as his team and said they had played well offensively, moving and running the ball effectively. McAfee called out the repeated use of “we” to describe Philadelphia on air, prompting Kelce to apologize repeatedly during the broadcast. The exchange set off broader discussion about Kelce's transition into broadcasting, with former NFL player and ESPN colleague Ryan Clark defending Kelce over the habit rather than treating it as a serious lapse.
Dufine has publicly expressed confidence that Kelce has natural talent for the job, saying he “sees the game well” and that ESPN would support him through the London broadcast. Before the Jaguars game, Kelce assured Jacksonville fans he would give the team its due credit, noting the Jaguars were playing as well as any team in the AFC. The game itself delivered an unexpected ending for Philadelphia: the Eagles lost after a late kickoff error gave Jacksonville a game-winning field goal attempt as time expired.
Why the Network Draws a Hard Line on Pronouns
The stakes behind ESPN's pronoun-policing go beyond one broadcaster's slip. Academic research presented in 2024 by the University of Lynchburg examined regional bias and national objectivity in sports media.
Sports media analysis published by Barrett Media in January 2026 discussed potential conflicts of interest surrounding former players in network roles, citing Tom Brady's involvement with the Raiders and Troy Aikman's consulting work for the Dolphins as financial and professional ties. For Kelce, those ties run especially deep given how thoroughly his career and persona remain woven into Philadelphia.
A Big Bet on a Philadelphia Icon
ESPN's investment in getting Kelce right is substantial. The network signed him to a reported three-year, $24 million contract in May 2024 after a bidding war with CBS, NBC and Prime Video following his retirement that March, according to US Magazine. Kelce's ESPN deal followed his retirement in March 2024.
Not every ESPN experiment has stuck. Kelce opted not to return for a second season of his late-night talk show, They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce, which ran for six episodes in early 2025. ESPN announced the show as a late-night program taped in Philadelphia. Kelce's broadcasting ventures sit alongside a sprawling media and business portfolio built with his brother Travis, including a nine-figure deal with Amazon's Wondery for the brothers' New Heights podcast in August 2024. Philadelphia still looms large in Kelce's life off the air, too.
In May, Kelce joined the ninth annual Eagles Autism Challenge at Lincoln Financial Field, an event that raised $16 million in a single day and pushed total program funding past $50 million. His continued presence at Eagles community events reflects his ties to Philadelphia, and catching himself mid-sentence on a national broadcast remains a work in progress.
