Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce is set to retire from the National Football League. The longtime center may eventually have a bust made for him in Canton. Before he gets there, he could become the next big sports media star. NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal knows a thing or two about media attention and life after professional sports. This week, Shaq hosted Kelce as the former lineman makes his exit from the NFL. While there, O’Neal got real with Kelce about retirement and what he felt the multi-time All-Pro needed to do in order to achieve happiness away from the game of football.
In short, O’Neal urged Kelce to embrace his family life.
Shaq’s podcast, The Big Podcast, shared a clip of the exchange between Kelce and O’Neal:
https://twitter.com/bigpodwithshaq/status/1758901836965163012
From Shaq:
“My advice for you is if you are going to retire? Accept it. Enjoy your family, brother. I made a lot of dumbass mistakes to where I lost my family and I didn’t have anybody. That’s not the case for you, so, enjoy your beautiful wife. Enjoy your beautiful kids. And never dwell on what we had. What we had is what we got. You got the ring, people know who you are. Enjoy. Because again, I was an idiot. And I’ve talked about it a long time. I lost my whole family. I’m in a 100,000-square-foot house by myself.”
O’Neal has been open in the past about his past. He’s expressed regret over his divorce with Shaunie O’Neal, his ex-wife. He’s also expressed resistance to his celebrity status, even if he is quite literally everywhere sometimes. O’Neal certainly comes from a real place here, and this exchange made for a great back-and-forth.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022