“This was kinda sad” – ‘Gutted’ Shaquille O’Neal recalls his regrets as he gives retirement advice to Jason Kelce, fans get emotional on social media

Shaq told Kelce to be with his family and enjoy the time with them.

“This was kinda sad” – ‘Gutted’ Shaquille O’Neal recalls his regrets as he gives retirement advice to Jason Kelce, fans get emotional on social media

(L) Shaquille O’Neal and (R) Jason Kelce (Image via IMAGO)

Jason Kelce has been contemplating retiring from football. The Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro center almost came close to hanging up his boots after the defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC wild-card round.

Last year, an Amazon documentary aptly named ‘Kelce’ showed that Jason was seeking advice from former Eagles players about retirement. The 36-year-old posed the question once more when he appeared on NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal‘s The Big Podcast.

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The former ex-Los Angeles Lakers star faced significant challenges during his retirement. In 2011, O’Neal separated from his wife, with whom he has five children. He advised Kelce not to make the same mistake as he did.

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My advice to you is that if you are going to retire, accept it and enjoy your family, brother. I made a lot of dumba*s mistakes, and I lost my family, and I didn’t have anybody.

O’Neal further asked Kelce to cherish his wife [Kylie Kelce] and be there for his three kids. Besides being a well-respected family fan, the older Kelce has won big in the field of football, bagging a Super Bowl ring. During his time in the NFL, he was arguably a top-three center almost every single year. 

Enjoy your beautiful wife, enjoy your beautiful kids, and never dwell on what we had. You got the ring; people know who you are; enjoy. Because, again, I was an idiot. I’m in a 100,000-square-foot house by myself.
Shaq said

Social media reacts to Shaquille O’Neal giving retirement advice to Jason Kelce

The Eagles selected Jason Kelce out of the University of Cincinnati in the sixth round of the 2011 draft. He led the 2017 Eagles to an upset win over Tom Brady‘s New England Patriots to bag the franchise’s first championship.

"This was kinda sad" - 'Gutted' Shaquille O'Neal recalls his regrets as he gives retirement advice to Jason Kelce, fans get emotional on social media
Jason Kelce (Image via IMAGO)

There’s still yet to be a concrete announcement about his retirement. However, if the Buccaneers’ game in the wild card was his last, then he would go down as one of the best players in Eagles history. Not only that, he will be a first-class Hall of Famer.

As Shaq mentioned, retirement life isn’t easy, especially for professional athletes. So enjoying every moment is the best course of action. Fans had their say on this heartfelt conversation:

Later, Shaq told Page Six that he was able to connect with Kelce. Primarily because both are family-oriented individuals.

Jason is a beautiful guy. I can tell that we’re the same people. He has great admiration for his mother and father, as do I. He’s a family guy.
Shaq revealed

Kelce has a growing following on social media through his New Heights podcast with his brother, Travis Kelce. There are also rumors that he might go into broadcasting and join TV as an analyst.

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