Jason Kelce decided to get taped up one last time before his retirement press conference Monday.
Not because he wanted to feel like he was getting ready for a game, but because Joe O’Pella, the Philadelphia Eagles trainer who had performed the task throughout Kelce’s 13-year career, hadn’t been able to do it for what proved to be Kelce’s final game.
O’Pella revealed Tuesday on Instagram that he was diagnosed with cancer during this past season and couldn’t attend Eagles’ wild-card loss at Tampa Bay on Jan. 15 since he was receiving treatment.
“I taped this guy’s ankles and thumbs everyday for 13 seasons, and when he played his last game in Tampa, again I couldn’t be there due to cancer,’’ O’Pella wrote. “And when he told me he would be retiring and I expressed my regret of not being the last person to ever tape him, he offered to have me tape him for his retirement press conference. That’s who he is.’’
O’Pella also posted a picture of the two embracing alongside his note.
“You all know about the on-field accomplishments, and many of the off-the-field ones too, but what this man has meant to me and now my family over the past decade plus is nearly indescribable,” he wrote.
O’Pella added that Kelce, who could end up in the Hall of Fame, helped support O’Pella and his family following the diagnosis.
“I hope these stories can add to an already unbelievable legacy,” O’Pella wrote.
“Congratulations to the entire Kelce family on a Hall of Fame career on and off the field.
“To Kylie’s husband; Wyatt, Elliotte, and Bennett’s dad; the Eagles’ center; Philadelphia’s icon, and my brother: Jason, congratulations on retirement and here’s to the future. I love ya.”
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