Jason Kelce made a stop at his local McDonald’s to give an employee something better than a tip.
Cashier Danielle Bonham‘s green Eagles jersey was signed by the NFL star when he hit the Broomall, Pennsylvania, drive-thru for breakfast on Wednesday, January 17. Kelce, 36, personalized the jersey, writing, “To Danielle, Go Birds! Thank you!” He also took a photo with Bonham, which she shared with her local Fox affiliate.
Bonham has had the pleasure of serving a sausage, egg and cheese McMuffin to Kelce several times.
“He motivated me when I didn’t have much motivation. I know he’s done that for a lot of people,” Bonham told Fox on Tuesday, January 16. “I’m forever grateful and very fortunate to have crossed paths with him as many times as I did, and I just wish him nothing but the best.”
Her comments came amid speculation that Kelce plans to retire following the Eagles’ playoff loss on Monday, January 15, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has played as a center with the team for 13 years.
“It’s frustrating. Really, really frustrating,” Kelce said of the loss on Wednesday’s episode of the “New Heights” podcast. “I love everybody in that building, all the teammates, all those coaches, so much. You put a lot of hard work in, you really do, and when it doesn’t pan out … it’s a heck of a collapse. Started out 10-1 and finished losing six of our last seven games. … Rough way to finish her out this year.”
The football player intentionally hasn’t publicly confirmed his plans for retirement at this point. (ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday that Kelce confirmed his retirement to teammates in a postgame conversation.)
“I didn’t announce what I was doing on purpose … but people can kind of feel body language and stuff,” he explained. “I just don’t think you’re in the position after a game like that to really make that decision, I just don’t. There’s too much emotion in the moment, there’s too much going down in the moment to really fully grasp that decision.”
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Kelce added that he’s not “trying to be dramatic” or “draw this thing out” when it comes to hanging up his helmet for good. “It’s just something that I think when it’s time to officially announce what’s happening in the future, it’ll be done in a way that’s definitive and pays respect to a lot of people and individuals that have meant a lot to me and what has led to the career that I’ve had,” he said. “I don’t think that it would be respectful or even accurate to be able to do that right after a game like that. … In the future, there’ll be something said, I guess.”
Kelce helped lead the Eagles to their first-ever Super Bowl victory in 2018, defeating the New England Patriots, and he appeared in the NFL championship again in 2023, but the Eagles lost to the Kansas City Chiefs (and Travis Kelce, Jason’s younger brother).
Last year’s Prime Video documentary Kelce revealed that Jason had been discussing retirement with wife Kylie Kelce “for years.” Kylie — who shares three daughters with Jason — explained: “I don’t think that people realize the beating you’re taking then impacts the way you interact with your family. … I always tell people, no matter what happens with football, how it ends, I would like him to retire when he is still able to get down on the floor and play with our kids comfortably.”
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