Jason Kelce Makes ESPN Debut Wearing A Beret: Is He Trying Too Hard?
Jason Kelce made his ESPN NFL Football broadcasting debut last night wearing quite the hat choice, as the former Philadelphia Eagles center decided to rock a beret on set.
The absurd but hilarious hat was worn by Kelce as he sat on a panel alongside Scott Van Pelt, Marcus Spears and Ryan Clark to preview Thursday's NFL Hall of Fame game between the Houston Texans and the Chicago Bears. Kelce had apparently just arrived back to the United States from attending the Paris Olympics this past week and decided to bring a little bit of a French feel for his ESPN debut.
"I wasn't sure if you'd wear a tie, I did not know that you were going to rock a beret fresh off the Olympics, what'd ya got there big fella?' SVP asked.
"I'm still on Paris time, so I'm going with the Paris headdress," Kelce responded before Ryan Clark joked that since Kelce is now on television, he has "become a different sort of professional, he also now wears underwear."
"It's true," Kelce conceded before adding that he was wearing a gray suit and if it didn't have boxers on it would be "risky."
THE NEW ESPN ERA
To his credit, Jason Kelce did a decent job overall with his ESPN debut.
Besides some stuttering here and there and some moments where he may have lost his train of thought, Kelce did exactly what ESPN hired him to do - be entertaining and fun but also informative. The latter of which came as he was discussing the new NFL kickoff rules as well as insight on new Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who was taken with Chicago's No. 1 overall draft pick this year.
"What's the most important thing for him to be able to count on [with his offensive line]," Van Pelt asked Kelce.
"There's definitely going to be a feeling out process with how he plays the game," the 13-year NFL veteran Kelce began. "For me, whenever I played with a young guy, I'm waiting to see how it feels with him in the pocket, how he communicates on the line. What are the differences in his cadences and things he likes to do with a structured play and how he freelances," Kelce continued, while still rocking the beret.
As I have previously written for over two years now, the Kelce brothers are the new Manning brothers when it comes to sports broadcasting. They are the perfect combination of wild, will pound beers with anyone but also be professional when they need to be - similar to ESPN's other big name hire, Pat McAfee. Heck, I even spoke with a former ESPN EVP who said that both Jason and Travis Kelce would be some of the most wanted free agents by a television network after the massive success of their New Heights podcast.
"I don't know if and when either or both will formally retire but once both do, they are a natural TV and media attraction," former EVP of digital and print media for ESPN John Kosner told OutKick. "They are All-Pro performers who are smart, fun and authentic, appealing to everyone, just like the Mannings and Charles Barkley. That is super hard to find and extremely valuable in our polarized country."
And that my friends, is EXACTLY why Jason Kelce showed up with a ridiculous-looking beret on his head for his ESPN television debut - which the majority of viewers seemingly enjoyed, although let's be honest there are quite a number of Eagles haters out there that won't appreciate anything a former player does.
The fact that an Executive Producer didn't make the call and tell Kelce to take off the beret shows that to their credit, ESPN is allowing the ‘personalities’ such as McAfee and Kelce to do what they need to do.
Let the suits be suits, and let the personalities be themselves.