PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — If you thought you couldn’t admire Eagles center Jason Kelce more, you might be tested once you see the new documentary about him.
“It’s been a very surreal and emotional and beautiful experience to kind of go through this whole process with a beloved Eagle, somebody like Jason Kelce who is everything you think he is and more,” said Don Argott, one half of the Philadelphia-based filmmaking couple behind the soon-to-be-released documentary, “Kelce.”
The film will be released on Prime Video on Sept. 12, just two days after the Eagles open their 2023 season at the New England Patriots.
Argott and Sheena Joyce, both Eagles fans, own the production company 9.14 Pictures. Their filmography includes “The Art of the Steal,” “Last Days Here,” “Batman and Bill” and “Believer.” Kelce and former Eagle Connor Barwin got connected to Argott and Joyce a couple of years ago with the intention of making a film about Kelce’s transition to retirement.
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Kelce was interested in doing a piece that wasn’t retroactive and looking back after retirement. He wanted to document something organically that showed what it was like to transition out of the NFL from a health and financial perspective.
The only thing was Kelce hadn’t retired. While it’s been a huge question mark over recent seasons whether he will call it a career, he keeps playing — and very well. He’s considered one of the best offensive linemen in the game.
So, what happened to this project Argott, Joyce and Kelce were working on?
They kept filming, and boom.
“This is something that happens in documentaries a lot and certainly has happened to us over the course of our career that you start out making something and it kind of turns into something completely different, but the thing that it turns into is like 10 times better than the original idea,” Argott said.
Once Super Bowl LVII ended, Argott said that’s when they knew they had another film to make. That’s because what it turned into was still a look at Kelce wondering what life is like after football, as well as a behind the scenes look at one of the most popular players in the history of Philadelphia professional sports during one of the most memorable seasons for this fan base — the 2022 Eagles falling one game short of going all the way by losing the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs, who — by the way — happen to feature Kelce’s younger brother, Travis.
Seriously, how amazing a story is that? But wait, there’s more.
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The Kelce brothers start the most popular sports podcast in the land and Jason’s wife, Kylie, is nine months pregnant as they make it to the Super Bowl while Donna Kelce, Jason’s and Travis’ mother, becomes a superstar during Super Bowl week.
“You really see the other side of what it takes and what it means to play football,” says Argott.
“You kind of get a good glimpse of what it’s like to be in the NFL from a lot of different perspectives,” Kelce said in August at Eagles Training Camp. “So I think it’s great. I’m really proud of it.”
Argott indicated the access to the Kelces’ lives in this film is incredible, even being surprised at times that they didn’t ask him to stop filming.
“There’s moments in the film that I think are going to be very, very surprising,” said Argott, “just because you’re just not used to seeing somebody like Jason at his level just being so real and honest and struggling and he’s still a real person. He’s still somebody who has really struggled with things. He’s not this like machine that gets to just kind of turn it on when he goes on the field and then he turns it off when he goes home. There’s a lot of heavy moments in the movie and I’m really excited for people to see.”
Argott, who referred to the film by him and Joyce as their love letter to the Eagles and Philadelphia, said you will know and adore Kelce even more when you watch it. He said have tissues ready. And if you were already pumped to see it based on the trailer, Argott says you ain’t seen nothing yet.
“I’ll tell you this,” he said, “if you think the trailer is great, you’re not going to be ready for the film. I love the trailer, but the film is really, really special and I’m really proud of it and I’m proud to share it with the city and the world.”