Jason Kelce is feeling grateful for his family of five as he shared his retirement news.

 

 

The Philadelphia Eagles center, 36, announced his retirement from the NFL on Monday, taking a minute to thank his family of five, including wife Kylie, 31, in his lengthy goodbye speech.

While addressing his wife, Jason took a minute to thank her for bringing his three daughters — Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 23 months, and Bennett, 12 months — into his life.

“She has also given me three beautiful girls and a life that increasingly brings me more fulfillment off the field than it does on,” he tearfully said during the press conference.

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“I am a product of my upbringing. I think one of the best things a person can be in this world is a father. A father who is present, loving, and devoted just might be the greatest gift a child could ask for in our society,” he continued.

In a scene from Kelce — the feature-length Prime Video documentary that follows Jason through the 2022-2023 season — wife Kylie showed that the injuries the NFL star sustains on the field impact his life at home as well.

“I don’t think people realize the beating you’re taking then impacts the way you interact with your family,” she said in a confessional.

Jason played with toddler daughters Elliotte and Wyatt when Kylie told her oldest, who threw herself around as she sang the team’s cheer, that she needed to give her dad a break, “because dad did a lot of hard work yesterday.”

“He’s been telling me for years that he was going to retire and now we are expecting our third daughter,” she added.

“I always tell people that no matter what happens with football, how it ends, I would like him to retire when he’s still able to get down on the floor and play with our kids comfortably.”

In February, Kylie and Jason shared photos of their kids’ nursery exclusively with PEOPLE, with the proud mom saying, “Jason is emotionally and mentally present for his girls, and I think that’s so important.”

The NFL player is a very hands-on dad, as seen in another sweet photo where he enjoyed a tea party with Elliotte.

“The memories that we’re creating now are things that we’ll talk about later, the same way our parents tell stories about us now,” the mom of three shared. “We hope that this space allows for the girls to be a good team together.”