Monday night’s showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles is a rematch of Super Bowl LVII. Revenge for a Lombardi loss isn’t what motivates Eagles center Jason Kelce. He’s got more familial reasons for wanting a win.
“I’m motivated to win the game. I don’t need the Super Bowl [loss] to motivate me to beat my brother [Travis], or [former coach] Andy Reid. I’ve never beaten them in my career. I’m more motivated maybe by that,” the Eagles center said, via ESPN. “I don’t buy into Super Bowl revenge games. Each season is different. This team is not the same, that team is not the same. Nothing that happens on Monday night is going to at all change or make anything different about what happened last year.”
Kelce has never won against the Chiefs, maintaining a 0-4 record, one of two teams he has never defeated in his 13-year professional career. The other team is Seattle, who Philly is set to play in Week 15.
While beating his little brother would be an added bonus for Kelce, it’s not his primary goal for Monday night’s match.
“He said, ‘I’ve triumphed over him many times in his life that I believe I’ll still be content. I’ve accumulated a lot of victories. It would be great to secure a win for the Eagles.'”
Just like any other week, despite the familiarity and personal connection I have with this game, my focus is primarily on what we need to accomplish. Paying attention to external distractions can potentially harm both ourselves and our teammates.
Jason and Travis Kelce became the first pair of brothers in NFL history to face each other in a Super Bowl (both brothers had a Super Bowl win prior to the matchup). The duo has more All-Pro selections (9) than any other brother duo in NFL history. The only brother combo with more combined Pro Bowls than the Kelce brothers (14) are Peyton and Eli Manning (18) and Bruce and Clay Matthews (18).
