Jason Kelce Should Have Worn Sleeves

You read that correctly - I agree with Rico. 

Let's start with the obvious here and that is that Jason Kelce is a first ballot HOFer and as Smitty pointed out, on the Mt Rushmore of Eagles. The guy gave his heart and soul to the Eagles and city of Philly. It was an absolute joy and privilege to watch him play; despite being a Giants fan, I married an Eagles fan so I've watched plenty Kelce snaps the last decade. 

Beyond his ability, as we saw shine through in the Kelce documentary, he plays the game with a reverence for the sport and a respect for his teammates that is becoming more and more rare these days. He never struck me as a dude who thought he was bigger than his team, the NFL, or the game of football. 

Which is why I am shocked that he showed up to his retirement press conference wearing a sleeveless t-shirt. One thing I've learned from all the Eagles football I've watched and spending a ton of time in that city for Army/navy is that Philly is a great city but it's also filled with people who are, let's say, not the best arbiters of what class looks like. So seeing replies to my tweet like this aren't a shocker:

Advertisement

I respect that Kelce is authentic. I respect that he seems like the greatest guy ever to share a (39) beer(s) with at any point of the day. However, I think there are still some unwritten rules (and some written) in this society that dictate how we act and present ourselves. A retirement press conference seems like a setting where sleeves and a collared shirt, at the very least, are warranted. Like I said, I think Kelce respects the game he is walking away from and you demonstrate that respect by wearing sleeves. Granted I've never had one and I'm sure I'll have plenty of colleagues at Barstool who disagree. But do you agree with Tony Soprano?

Advertisement

"Values today. Standards are crumbling." Artie was right. 

I don't care ultimately what he does, I just try to uphold the rules of society. 

Listen, you think I was expecting to see him in a shirt and tie? Of course not but like Rico said, even a polo would've sufficed. Some of you are clamouring, "I didn't know there are rules at your own press conference." No, there aren't but there are certain situations in life where you're just supposed to know how to do things. 

Advertisement

The problem with this stance is, where does it end? At what point do we stop caring all together and devolve into animals? I'm not suggesting we go back to wearing a suit and tie every day like Don Draper, but minimal effort would go a long way. I'll end by saying maybe I'm just old school at heart and I shouldn't even say these things out loud but I think we'd just be better served as a society if everyone tried a little bit more. 

Now, if Jason wants to link up down the Jersey Shore and delete Miller Lites in sleeveless t shirts, I'm ready. 

P.S. Guarantee my wife reads this later and says, "and you wonder why people online hate you. You're obnoxious." That's my cross to bear. 

P.P.S. If you're reading this and you still wear hoodies and hats to nice restaurants, just stop. As a bald, I used to push the limits of where I would wear a hat inside and eventually you realize you don't need to care about people seeing your bald spot so much as you should care about Tony Soprano telling you to take your hat off inside.