By TeeJay Small
| Published
At this point, dozens of documentaries have been produced that follow professional athletes through the journey of a career, a season, or even a single game. One such example of this common filmmaking trend includes the spectacular documentary Kelce, which was released in 2023. As the title suggests, the Kelce documentary follows former Philadelphia Eagles center and Super Bowl champion Jason Kelce over the course of his final year with the NFL.
Kelce
The Kelce documentary initially premiered on Amazon Prime Video back in September of 2023, and quickly raced up the streaming charts to become the Number 1 most watched movie on the platform. The narrative sees Jason Kelce splitting his time between hitting the field for practice, jet-setting across the nation for NFL match-ups, and spending time with his family, which includes his wife Kylie and their two young daughters. Throughout the documentary’s production, Kylie is pregnant with their third child, who was born in February 2023, shortly after Jason’s final NFL performance.
Facing Off Against His Brother
From the moment production on Kelce began, the documentary posed the question of whether Jason would continue his journey as a professional athlete, or retire after the 2022 season. Ultimately, Kelce chose to close out his career with a bang, after his Philadelphia Eagles went head-to-head against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
As you may already know, Jason’s own brother Travis Kelce, who has made headlines across all manner of pop culture circles for his ongoing relationship with Taylor Swift, serves as the tight end for the Chiefs, making Super Bowl LVII the first-ever instance of two brothers facing off for the championship ring.
At the risk of spoiling the Kelce documentary, Kansas City ultimately won the big game, with a nail-biting final score of 38-35. Though his team narrowly lost out on the title, and lost $100 of my money in the process, Jason still saw the moment as a career high, and opted to retire. Luckily, the Eagles had already secured a championship victory just a few years earlier with Super Bowl LII, making both of the Kelce brothers NFL champions.
Despite the financial loss I suffered at the hands of Jason and his Eagles teammates, I personally loved the Kelce documentary, as did many NFL fans from across the nation. Philadelphia has been a major underdog in the league for many years, having never taken home a Super Bowl win until the 2017 season, so the mythology surrounding the alumnus of pro-ballers who took home the gold has propelled them to the status of global superstars.
The Underdog Story
The Kelce documentary itself offers something of a reputation as an underdog, as evidenced by its warring Rotten Tomatoes scores. Critics have given the doc middling reviews, resulting in a 50 percent on the Tomatometer, while general audiences have eaten the film up with a near-perfect 97 percent Popcornmeter.
If you’re an NFL fan, it’s probably a no-brainer to say that you’ll definitely enjoy the Kelce documentary. Even if football really isn’t your thing, there’s still plenty to enjoy about the project, as it showcases Jason’s love and devotion to his family, and highlights the importance that he places on being an attentive father.
Plus, who among us couldn’t have their hearts melted at the sight of Mama Kelce rocking a split-down-the-middle Eagles/Chiefs jersey for the Super Bowl? Those interested in catching Kelce can find the documentary streaming on Amazon Prime Video today.
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