Jason Kelce’s retirement Rolex has a meaningful backstory

Zach Blass

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift have been dominating the pop culture news cycle for months and months, but this week, the limelight was on Travis’ brother Jason. The Philadelphia Eagles superstar finally announced his retirement from the NFL, and did so (as only watch aficionados would notice), with horological flair.

On his wrist was the now-discontinued yellow gold Rolex GMT Master II with a green dial – a fitting colour that matches the Eagles jersey he wore for many years. Kelce is well-known for not being one to indulge in expensive luxury and latest fashion, commonly seen in sweatpants, sandals, and a hoodie while wearing this very Rolex. So, going for a solid gold Rollie is not something you would expect him to do. The watch, however, is a very special memento. After their Super Bowl win in 2018, the watch was commissioned by members of the team in an effort instigated by then-Eagles tight end Brent Celek to celebrate winning the championship – the first for the team after a 57-year drought. This explains the special caseback engraving, which is said to be a dog mask suggesting that, against the odds, the underdog Eagles finally had won the title – or simply that, during that game, the Eagles had that dog in em’.

There is also a practical explanation for Kelce and the team’s interest in commissioning a watch. Kelce would explain this on an episode of the Green Light with Chris Long podcast. “Super Bowl rings aren’t fun to wear. First of all, you feel kind of like a douche, a little bit, I feel like, when you’re wearing it. It feels like you’re like, ‘Oh, look at me! I won a Super Bowl!’ And they’re also really big and clunky. Like, it’s already giving me a blister on my finger. They’re not comfortable. So we all decided — along with a couple other guys on the team — let’s just have Rolexes made commemorating the Super Bowl.”

This is, of course, one of many instances in which a group of athletes or a cast and crew of a production have acquired watches in celebration of a milestone. Within the watch community, the “milestone watch” is a common practice whether celebrating a graduation, promotion, wedding, or the birth of a child. But, sometimes arbitrary milestones are simply poor excuses to justify the purchase of a new watch. A Super Bowl win, however… That is definitely the right time to celebrate with a watch for sure. And, it was certainly a fitting watch to wear upon formally announcing his retirement.