Ex-NFL star Jason Kelce plays amateur rugby in London — SkimNews
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- Jason Kelce, the 38-year-old retired Eagles center and 2018 Super Bowl champion, played a 30-minute friendly for Old Streetonians against Hackney RFC at Hackney Marshes in London this week, joined by former Eagles teammate Beau Allen.
- Kelce received a rugby lesson from former Harlequins and England prop Joe Marler as part of a series where he learns different sports for his YouTube channel.
- Hackney prop Dave Lewis said he tackled Kelce early in the match after Kelce tried to pick up the ball at the back of a ruck — a rugby penalty — but Kelce later ran straight through Lewis with the ball, showing 'no ego' about the exchange.
- Hackney full-back Peter Scott said Kelce adapted quickly despite initial rule confusion, was deployed as a number 8, and generated 'sensational leg drives' that made him feel like three tacklers were needed to bring him down.
- Old Streetonians chairman Will Gillgrass said Kelce and Allen completed the club's pub initiation — singing a song and downing a pint — then chatted with players for hours at a local pub with their cards behind the bar.
- Kelce is in England to serve as a commentator for Sunday's NFL game between his former Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (14:30 BST).
- Kelce is the older brother of Travis Kelce, the three-time Super Bowl winning Kansas City Chiefs tight end married to Taylor Swift.
Why it matters: The crossover underlines how the NFL's international push — anchored by Sunday's Eagles-Jaguars game at Tottenham — increasingly pulls retired stars into the British sports ecosystem rather than treating London as a one-off venue. For grassroots rugby clubs, the visit generated footage and interviews with an American film crew, free exposure that amateur sides rarely command. Kelce, meanwhile, used the match to test whether NFL-caliber power translates to continuous-play contact sport, an experiment his YouTube audience will see the result of.
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