Eagles wiz weighs whether Jason Kelce is top-ten in franchise history

When it’s all said and done, whenever Jason Kelce decides to hang up the cleats (hopefully, that will be sooner or later), he’ll be remembered as one of the best Philadelphia Eagles to ever play the game. He’s a shoo-in for the team’s hall of fame, and eventually, he’ll take his place in Canton, Ohio. He’s been that good.

Jason Kelce’s legacy is more than that though. After representing the Eagles on the gridiron for more than a decade,  he’s made enough money to buy a beer or two if he decides to spend a night on the town, but he’ll never have to spend it, not in the City of Brotherly Love anyway.

Kelce isn’t just a four-time First-team All-Pro and a five-time Pro Bowler. He’s a Super Bowl champion, the author of the greatest speech in the history of victory parades, and one of the most beloved Eagles of all time. Some have even said that he’s replaced Brian Dawkins as the most beloved Bird ever. The question is this. Is he among the top ten Eagles ever?

Brian Dawkins can make that claim. Can Kelce? One of the most trusted voices in terms of Eagles content examined that recently.

NBC Sports Philly’s Reuben Frank debates if Jason Kelce is one of the best Eagles ever.

You have to love Reuben Frank. He’s been putting out quality Eagles content forever. If you’ve been a Birds fan for a while, you already know who he is. If you’re new to this way of life and that name is unfamiliar, don’t be alarmed, you’ll eventually learn who he is and you’ll see his stuff soon enough.

Recently, he pondered whether or not Kelce deserves to be mentioned among the ten best players to ever play in an Eagles jersey. Here’s what he came up with. Dawk, Reggie White, Steve Van Buren, and Chuck Bednarik are the four greatest Eagles of all time. No one would dispute that, but as Roob points out, if we acknowledge that, simple math tells us that we have to also recognize that there are only six more spots on this top ten

Just in case you’re curious, we still have 88 years of history to comb through. Thankfully, we have Roob to help us out.

Frank looked at each decade of Eagles football and pulled out the best Eagles of those time frames. He gave the nod to Al Wistert and Alex Wojciechowicz in the 40s. Bucko Kilroy and Pete Pihos got the nod in the 50s while Tommy McDonald, Maxie Baughan, Bob Brown, and Pete Retzlaff get a thumbs up in the 60s.

Bill Bergey, Bill Bradley, Charlie Johnson, Harold Carmichael, and Harold Jackson get two thumbs up in the 1970s. Mike Quick and Keith Jackson get a pat on the back for the 1980s.

In the 90s, Roob tips the cap to Randall Cunningham, Jerome Brown, Clyde Simmons, Eric Allen, and Seth Joyner. The 2000s are dominated by Jeremiah Trotter, David Akers, Troy Vincent, Donovan McNabb, and Brian Westbrook. DeSean Jackson, Fletcher Cox, Jason Peters, LeSean McCoy, and Zach Ertz are on his list of the best Eagles that played between 2010 and 2019.

Sheesh. Is anyone else tired? Those are some awe-inspiring names, and it just goes to show that some legends have come through the City of Brotherly Love. Heck, we could throw in Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan as well. How can you argue one man’s case and not mention another?

How about this? We’ll table the discussion for now. There are too many great Eagles to just throw some names in those other six slots next to Dawk, Reggie, Van Buren, and Concrete Charlie, but we all saw Jason Kelce, and we know that he was one special son of a gun.

How about we just leave it at this? On a list of the greatest Eagles ever, there has to be a spot for Jason Kelce. W#ho cares if he’s tenth or twentieth. In terms of the most loved Birds, however, he’s top five. That’s a statement that we all can agree with, and frankly, that’s good enough to put a smile on everyone’s face.