Travis Kelce was overcome with emotion as he discussed his retirement from football with brother Jason on their latest New Heights podcast.
Jason, 36, announced his retirement Monday after 13 years in the NFL as a Philadelphia Eagles player, with the legendary center breaking down in tears during an emotional farewell speech.
In the crowd at Philadelphia's practice facility, Travis was also seen shedding tears alongside mom Donna and dad Ed as his brother waved goodbye to the Eagles and the game he has dedicated his life to for nearly two decades.
In this week's New Heights issue, the Kelce brothers discussed Jason's decision to retire from the NFL in more detail, as Travis admitted he wanted his older brother to keep playing next season.
“We haven’t talked much about your retirement,” the Kansas City Chiefs tight end said. “And I wanted to make sure you didn't feel any pressure from me to keep going because I knew I wanted you to keep going. “I wanted you to keep playing this game.
Travis Kelce was overcome with emotion as he spoke to brother Jason about his retirement from football
Jason Kelce has brought the curtain down on his NFL career after 13 years with the Eagles
While discussing Jason's decision to go to New Heights, an emotional Travis burst into tears
Jason joked, “Why didn't you tell me? I would have changed my mind.”
After claiming that his brother was “always one step ahead” and pointing out to Jason that he was the older of the two, Travis broke down in tears while expressing the emptiness he already feels without him in the sport.
“It was always like I always had this flotation device right there. “It's um… getting you out of there, man, it feels empty… and it definitely feels um… like it's complete, you know,” he said, fighting back tears.
“It was a success.”
“I hear you,” Jason replied.
Travis and Jason have had an iconic journey as the NFL's most famous brothers over the last decade, with the pair even competing against each other in a historic Super Bowl last year.
And the Chiefs tight end is disappointed when he sees his brother's back on the football field and praises him for showing him how to master the sport.
“The journey was a lot of fun to watch,” Travis continued. “Like I said yesterday, man, I just appreciate you showing me the way and taking us all along for the ride with your big guy.”
Jason replied, “We showed each other the way.” I appreciate it. Listen, I don't play anymore, but I still go to the games. Like I said, you've been playing on your own for a long time and I look forward to appreciating and watching your games even more, taking in the bigger picture of soccer and everything it has to offer, while staying local to Philadelphia.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end admits he feels “empty” after his brother’s retirement
“I'll never be there, but I'm definitely looking forward to it… I don't know, it's a different chapter and in some ways I'll be able to experience more things and do things that I've never done before.” intend to. Which is exciting.
Travis added: “It was cool being the National Football League tag team!” Pretty cool sex.
“Yeah, I didn’t talk to you about that [retiring], I'll let you do your own thing, so to speak. I couldn't have been prouder listening to you speak yesterday. There were a lot of emotions, a lot of sad emotions, a lot of exciting emotions.
“You've got the damn world in the palm of your hand right now, dude.” You have three little kids that I know you're dying to see grow up. There's a lot of future, exciting future things to look forward to. So yeah, back to the speech – can I see the Kleenex real quick…”
Jason then joked after his tearful retirement press conference: “I'm sorry I would cry more, but I wasted all my tears.”