Jason Kelce gets his own late-night show beginning in final week of NFL season
Jason Kelce, the former Philadelphia Eagles center turned podcaster host and Christmas caroler, will try his hand at late-night television early next year.
Kelce announced on Thursday night's ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he will host "They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce" on ESPN. The one-hour show will air on five straight Friday nights beginning Jan. 3, which coincides with the last week of the NFL's regular season and the playoffs.
The show will originate in front of a live audience from Union Transfer in Philadelphia. The first four episodes will air at 1 a.m. EST starting on Jan. 4, with the final episode coming on at 1:30 a.m. EST on Feb. 1.
"I loved late-night shows, I've always loved them. I remember sleepovers watching Conan O'Brien with my friends," Kelce said on Kimmel's show. "We're going to have a bunch of guys up there — legends of the game, friends that I played with, coaches, celebrities," Kelce said.
The Philadelphia-based band Snacktime will provide the show's music.
The show's title is an homage to "They Call It Pro Football," NFL Films' first full-length film in 1967. NFL Films originated in Philadelphia, and its founders, Ed and Steve Sabol, are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The film also featured the legendary voice of John Facenda, who did the news on Philadelphia television before becoming better known as the voice of NFL Films.
NFL Films will produce the show with Kelce's Wooderboy Productions and Skydance Sports.
Each episode will also be seen on Replays airing on ESPN2 and also be available on ESPN+, ESPN's YouTube channel and the Jason Kelce channel on YouTube.
Kelce is in the first year of a multi-year agreement with ESPN. He appears on the network's "Monday Night Countdown" show and provides halftime and postgame analysis. He played 13 years for the Eagles before retiring at the end of last season and was the most sought-after former player by networks. He participated in last year's NFL Broadcasting and Media Workshop, which used to be known as the "Broadcast Bootcamp."
Kelce has made news lately, though, for other reasons.
On Friday, Kelce and his former teammates Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailiata released their third Christmas album, "A Philly Special Christmas Party." The album features Stevie Nicks, Boyz II Men, Devon Gilfillian and Travis Kelce, but no Taylor Swift.
Kelce was involved in a confrontation with a fan in State College, Pennsylvania, before the Penn State-Ohio State game on Nov. 2, when a fan heckled Kelce and appeared to shout an anti-gay slur about his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, for dating pop star Taylor Swift. Video showed Kelce grabbing the fan's phone and throwing it to the ground.
Kelce apologized about the incident on ESPN on Nov. 4.
On Thursday night an autograph seeker verbally confronted Kelce outside the El Capitan Entertainment Center in Hollywood, where "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" is taped.
Video obtained by TMZ shows Kelce explaining that he doesn't sign autographs for people that follow where he is going. After being shouted at for over two minutes, Kelce eventually got out of the car and signed autographs, including shaking the hand of a man who was berating Kelce with obscenities.