Jason Kelce is heading back into the booth on Sunday morning, and the conversation around him is still about one word. Jeff Dufine said the network has been trying to get Kelce to stop saying “we” when he talks about the Eagles, a habit that drew attention after his on-air apology in Week 3.
Kelce will call Eagles-Jaguars in London on the NFL Network alongside Dave Pasch and Kurt Warner. It is the next stop in a four-game schedule, and it comes after his debut calling the Indianapolis Colts’ victory over the Washington Commanders in London drew praise for how quickly he picked up the details of the job.
Dufine pointed to one play from that first broadcast as proof Kelce can already see the game like a broadcaster. Daniel Jones’ foot position tipped off a quarterback sneak, and Kelce explained on air that when a quarterback is under center, the feet are usually square, while a staggered back foot can signal a run forward. Dufine said those were the kinds of little things that made Kelce stand out early.
The network had been preparing him for that work for weeks. In August, Kelce, Pasch and Warner met in Houston for a mock call of a preseason game between the Texans and the Los Angeles Chargers, with Dufine saying the session helped the group build rapport and work through commercial breaks, replay sequences and the rhythm of hearing him in Kelce’s ear. He said it was also important because Kelce had never done a game before, and the practice gave him a chance to get used to the mechanics of TV without the pressure of live stakes.
That prep matters because Kelce is still learning how to separate his old life from his new one. He called a quarter of the Eagles’ loss to the Chicago Bears on Westwood One in Week 3, then apologized to Bears fans after being called out during the pregame show for repeatedly referring to the Eagles as “we.” Dufine said the network has kept working with him on that point. “We’ve tried to get the ‘we’ out of him,” he said.
For now, the test is simple. Kelce impressed in his first broadcast, but Sunday brings another live chance to see whether the former Eagles center and Super Bowl champ can sound less like part of the huddle and more like the voice calling the game.
