ESPN producer Jeff Dufine says the network is working to break Jason Kelce of a broadcast habit that keeps landing him in hot water.
Dufine, who is overseeing international game broadcasts in his first season in that role, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Kelce’s tendency to refer to the Eagles as “we” remains a work in progress. “We’ve tried to get the ‘we’ out of him,” Dufine admitted, noting that athletes making the leap to the booth commonly struggle with this adjustment.
The issue flared up during halftime of the Eagles’ 27-7 loss to the Bears on “Monday Night Football” on Sept. 28. Seated alongside Scott Van Pelt and Pat McAfee, Kelce repeatedly used first-person plural while analyzing Philadelphia’s struggles. “We played really well offensively, we had opportunities, we shot ourselves in the foot but we’ve moved the ball, we’ve ran the ball well,” Kelce said at the table.
McAfee immediately pounced on the slip. “A lot of ‘we’ talk out of Jason for Philly,” he quipped, prompting a string of on-air apologies from the former Eagles center.
Dufine expressed confidence in Kelce’s underlying abilities despite the rough edges. “He sees the game really well,” the producer said before Kelce called the Jaguars-Eagles game in London. “Just tell me what you’re seeing, and we’ll support you the best way we can throughout the course of the game.”
The “Monday Night Football” incident was not Kelce’s only recent stumble. The former All-Pro has had to apologize for two separate on-air mistakes during his young ESPN career, drawing scrutiny to how quickly the network has featured him across its NFL coverage.
Ryan Clark, the former NFL safety who made a successful transition to broadcasting before his recent firing from ESPN, publicly defended Kelce amid the criticism.
Ahead of the London assignment, Kelce attempted to head off concerns about bias from Jaguars supporters. “I want to assure Jags fans I’ve seen a lot of the Jags accounts already saying that they’re not looking forward to this,” Kelce said on his “New Heights” podcast. “I will be doing my utmost to give you guys the credit you deserve. Jacksonville’s playing as good as any team right now in the AFC. I really do believe that.”
The Eagles ultimately lost that London game in devastating fashion, surrendering a late lead on a botched kickoff that set up Jacksonville’s game-winning field goal as time expired.