FORMER NFL stars Chris Long and Beau Allen have forewarned ex-teammate Jason Kelce that retirement isn’t as easy as it seems as the All-Pro center continues to mull hanging up his cleats.
The two former Philadelphia Eagles stars appeared on the latest edition of Jason and Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast and expressed that retirement is a “huge existential crisis.”
Chris Long and Beau Allen gave Jason Kelce advice on retiringCredit: YouTube/ New Heights
Kelce has been open about possibly stepping away from the NFL soonCredit: YouTube/ New Heights
Jason has been very open all year that his retirement is near and on his mind, and he received some advice from his former teammates.
He was joined on the show by Allen, a former defensive tackle who retired in 2019 after seven seasons in the NFL, and Long stopped playing football in 2018 after 11 years in the league.
Allen highlighted that since stepping away from the sport, it’s been a big change of pace and “boring” at times.
“It is different. It’s a little boring. You don’t have the intensity of football and that’s something that has been a little bit of an adjustment.
He continued to explain how he misses the energy and boundaries created in locker rooms.
“That’s why I love doing the pod with Chris. It’s just an excuse to hang out with your boys and talk about football
“That’s what you miss the most. You talk to any guy that’s retired and ask them what they miss about the game.
“If they don’t say the guys in the locker room, then they’re a f***ing phony,” Allen shared.
Long shared a similar belief and described how he believes professional athletes are wired differently than most people.
“I miss y’all man. More than anything, it’s you can get in a big room full of people and fill your cup socially but we’re different.
I had to carry drunk Jason Kelce home from first date with wife Kylie – it was harder than climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
“We’re just different, for all our shortcomings and ways that all our wives and significant others get annoyed at us, but we just have really specific mindsets. So it is the locker room but also the absence of my kind of guy.
“I also think it’s a huge existential crisis. Whether you think you’re ready or not, your life changes,” Long expressed.
However, Allen mentioned that he had lost tremendous weight since calling it in the NFL in 2019.
“I’m just trying to live and spend as much time with friends and family, catch up on travel and hang out with you guys at the Super Bowl.
“Just stuff you can’t do when you’re playing because you’re so committed to training and getting your body right. That’s what’s been fun for me, just doing things in a completely different way and live my life in a way I was never able to when I was playing.
“And lose a lot of weight. I was 335 lbs. up until a couple of years ago. [Today] I’m probably 278… I’m sure whenever you decide to retire Kelce, you lose that weight and you get so much more energy.
“It’s so nice to not feel so f**ing fat and sweaty and sloppy, man,” Allen said.
