Here’s Jason: Kelce to host late-night show on ESPN beginning final week of NFL season

By JOE REEDY, Associated Press Sports Writer

Jason Kelce volition effort his manus astatine late-night tv aboriginal adjacent year.

Kelce announced during an quality connected ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” connected Thursday nighttime that helium volition big “They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce,” connected ESPN. The one-hour amusement volition portion connected 5 consecutive Friday nights opening Jan. 3. That coincides with the past week of the NFL’s regular play and the playoffs.

The amusement volition originate successful beforehand of a unrecorded assemblage from Union Transfer successful Philadelphia. The archetypal 4 episodes volition aerial astatine 1 a.m. EST starting connected Jan. 4 with the last occurrence coming connected astatine 1:30 a.m. EST connected Feb. 1.

“I loved late-night shows, I’ve ever loved them. I retrieve sleepovers watching Conan O’Brien with my friends,” Kelce said connected Kimmel’s show. “We’re going to person a clump of guys up determination — legends of the game, friends that I played with, coaches, celebrities,” Kelce said.

The Philadelphia-based set Snacktime volition supply the show’s music.

The show’s rubric is simply a homage to “They Call it Pro Football,” which was NFL Films’ archetypal full-length movie successful 1967. NFL Films originated successful Philadelphia and founders Ed and Steve Sabol are successful the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It besides featured the legendary dependable of John Facenda, who did the quality connected Philadelphia tv earlier becoming amended known arsenic the dependable of NFL Films.

NFL Films volition nutrient the amusement successful conjunction with Kelce’s Wooderboy Productions and Skydance Sports.

Each occurrence volition besides beryllium besides seen connected Replays airing connected ESPN2, and besides beryllium disposable connected ESPN+, ESPN’s YouTube transmission and the Jason Kelce transmission connected YouTube.

Kelce is successful the archetypal twelvemonth of a multi-year statement with ESPN. He appears connected the network’s “Monday Night Countdown” amusement arsenic good arsenic providing halftime and postgame analysis. He played 13 years for the Philadelphia Eagles earlier retiring astatine the extremity of past play and was the astir sought-after erstwhile subordinate by networks. He participated successful last year’s NFL Broadcasting and Media Workshop, which utilized to beryllium known arsenic the “Broadcast Bootcamp.”

Kelce has made quality lately, though, for different reasons.

He was progressive successful a confrontation with a instrumentality successful State College, Pennsylvania, earlier the Penn State-Ohio State crippled connected Nov. 2, erstwhile a instrumentality heckled Kelce and appeared to outcry an anti-gay slur astir his brother, Kansas City Chiefs choky extremity Travis Kelce, for dating popular prima Taylor Swift. Video showed Kelce grabbing the fan’s telephone and throwing it to the ground.

Kelce apologized astir the incidental connected ESPN connected Nov. 4.

On Thursday nighttime an autograph seeker verbally confronted Kelce extracurricular the El Capitan Entertainment Center successful Hollywood, wherever “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is taped.

Video obtained by TMZ shows Kelce explaining that helium doesn’t motion autographs for radical that travel wherever helium is going. After being shouted astatine for implicit 2 minutes, Kelce yet got retired of the car and signed autographs, including shaking the manus of a antheral who was berating Kelce with obscenities.