Philadelphia Eagles fans at a Los Angeles-area watch party were already having a great day watching their team dismantle the Dallas Cowboys — and then Jason Kelce showed up.
The Eagles legend, 37, made a surprise appearance at Eagles bar The Garage, located in the Palms neighborhood of L.A., during his former team’s 34-6 drubbing of the Cowboys on Sunday, November 10.
Naturally, the bar — which was packed with people in their finest Eagles gear — erupted with shock and enthusiasm.
“YALL JASON KELCE JUST WLAKED IN TO THR BAR NEXT TO MY APARTMENT. IM CRYING,” one lucky bar patron excitedly wrote via X.
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Kelce was seen joyously singing “Fly, Eagles, Fly,” the team’s iconic fight song, taking pictures and drinking beers with the rowdy group.
The “New Heights” podcast, which Kelce hosts with his brother Travis Kelce, even joined the fun. “Incredible ,” the show’s TikTok account commented on a video of Kelce partying with his City of Brotherly Love brethren.
Kelce — who retired in March after 13 seasons with the Eagles — is on the west coast for the Monday, November 11, showdown between the Los Angeles Rams and Miami Dolphins at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium.
In September, the future NFL Hall of Famer began working as an analyst for ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown, which will be on site for the game.
Kelce’s appearance comes on the heels of some highly-publicized controversy involving the former Eagles center.
After making a cameo on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, November 3, Kelce swatted the phone out of the hand of a heckler who used a homophobic slur to describe Kelce’s brother, Travis, and his relationship with his girlfriend Taylor Swift.
In a video released by TMZ, Kelce was seen using the same slur three times in rebuttal.
“I’m not happy with anything that took place. I’m not proud of it,” Kelce, said Monday, November 4 on Monday Night Countdown. “Within a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate and I don’t think that’s a productive thing. I don’t think it leads to discourse.”
He continued, “In that moment I fell down to a level that I shouldn’t have. Bottom line is, I try to live my life by the golden rules. That’s what I’ve always been taught. I try to treat people with decency and respect. I’m going to keep doing that moving forward.”
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Kelce apologized again later that week on the Wednesday, November 6, episode of “New Heights.”
“I’m just gonna address it because I feel like it needs one more time and then hopefully we can stop talking about this really stupid situation that occurred,” Kelce said. “I’m not happy about the situation. Me reacting gave him the time of day and it also gave the situation notoriety. That’s what I regret. It didn’t deserve attention, it’s really stupid. And if I just keep walking it’s a nothing burger, nobody sees it. Now it’s out there and it just perpetuates more hate.”
He continued, “The thing that I regret the most is saying that word, to be honest with you, and the word he used is just f—ing ridiculous. And it takes it to another level. It’s just off the wall, f—ing over the line. It’s dehumanizing and it got under my skin and it elicited a reaction. In the heat of the moment, I thought, ‘Hey, what can I say back to him? I’m gonna throw this s— right back into his face. F— him.’ I know now that I shouldn’t have done that, because now there’s a video out there with me saying that word, him saying that word, and it’s not good for anybody.”
Monday Night Countdown airs Mondays at 6:00 p.m. ET, right before Monday Night Football, on ESPN.