Jason Kelce is well known for his athleticism at the center position for the Philadelphia Eagles, and his unique combination of strength and speed used to be startling to brother Travis. On the latest episode of their New Heights podcast, the brothers were asked who could bench press and squat more weight. The answer was pretty easy: The NFL center can bench and squat more than the tight end. “I don’t bench or squat, so it looks like Jason wins both of those events,” Travis said. “And he’s clearly stronger than me. Probably close to twice as strong as me. And to be honest, man, your 10-yard start still might be faster than me.” Travis recalled a time when the duo raced in college and Jason beat him, much to his frustration. “I was like, ‘This doesn’t make any…sense,'” Travis said. “‘He’s 40 pounds heavier than me, and he’s quicker than me.'” “[I have] a good start,” Jason said. Travis remembered thinking his brother’s speed was unnatural. “This guy is on the juice,” Travis said, referring to performance-enhancing drugs. “That’s when I thought you were juicing.” The brothers laughed. “And then you saw me take my shirt off, and you were like, ‘This guy is not on the juice,'” added Jason, who weighs roughly 280 pounds. Newsweek reached out to Travis Kelce’s representatives by email for comment. Jason added that he still likes to lift heavy during the season “just to mentally feel like I’m still strong.” Before every season, he likes to squat more than 500 pounds, and he added that his highest total in the last four years is “something like 575.” “My bones just rattled when you said that,” Travis said. For his part, Travis said he likes to use a Keiser squat machine, which eliminates the bar and makes it a more low-impact lift. “You do it for the functionality of being an athlete, not so much for strength purposes,” Jason noted, and Travis agreed. Travis added that while he “gets everything firing,” he has to take care of his body at this stage in his career. “These shoulders are f***ed,” Travis said. “So there’s only so much I can do.” Jason’s athleticism has served him well in the NFL, but it wasn’t always seen as a positive. Eagles Executive Vice President Howie Roseman told Jason in April that he was off the 2011 draft board for many NFL teams in part because he weighed 280 pounds, and in part because he had a bad reputation coming out of Cincinnati. “I do remember in the draft room, [scouts] were going, ‘I’m just telling you, he might fight half the team, and he really likes to party,'” Roseman told Jason in April. Roseman added, however, that the Eagles liked Jason so much that they had him (rated) in the fourth round before they ultimately drafted him in the sixth. “Honestly, I’m embarrassed we had you in the fourth round because you’re thinking, ‘1st-ballot Hall of Famer, and we had you in the fourth round?’ So we were wrong about that,” Roseman said. “But at that time nobody really looked like you. Nobody.” Uncommon Knowledge Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground. Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground. About the writer Tom Westerholm is a Sports & Culture Reporter for Newsweek . Prior to joining Newsweek , he was the Boston Celtics beat writer for MassLive, where he covered the Kyrie Irving saga as well as the arrival of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Following his time at MassLive, he worked for Boston.com and The Boston Globe Media Properties, where he covered Boston sports generally. While working for BGMP, he garnered multiple awards including “Best Sports Story” in 2021 from the New England Newspaper and Press Association. He now resides in Michigan. Email [email protected] with tips. Tom Westerholm is a Sports & Culture Reporter for Newsweek . Prior to joining Newsweek , he was the Boston Celtics beat …
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