Travis on the Super Bowl Loss, Jason on Mixed Emotions and Who's Going Over a Cliff? | Ep 124

0:28It's just life, man. welcome back to new heights ladies and gentlemen a wondery show produced by wave sports and entertainment and brought to you by buffalo wild wings go order wings for takeout or delivery today we are your hosts i'm travis kelsey my big brother jason kelsey uh subscribe on youtube wondery plus wherever you get your podcast follow the show on all social media new heights show with one s yeah man this is uh this is gonna be a a very um gotta do it type episode um Obviously, after the big loss, this isn't the easiest thing to do. Get on here and talk to the world, and especially our 92 percenters who tune in week in, week out.

1:11Give us your time, give us your attention, and cheer for us and root us on. It was a weird weekend, but I appreciate you guys for all the support I've seen leading up to it and even afterwards. but Jason, before we get into everything, why don't you let the people know what we got coming up? We got a big episode, guys. We're going to recap Super Bowl 59 and talk about, yeah, what else we got down to while we were in New Orleans. As always, we're going to get to some of your no-dumb questions. But first, I guess we're just going to get right into it. I don't know if there's any new news. All the news is over.

1:50Yeah. So I guess we can just go. All right. All right, cool. Well, Eagles 40, Chiefs 22. God damn. The three-peat did not happen, obviously. Did not happen in the Superdome. Eagles ended up getting it done. Nick Sirianni, Jalen Hurts, Trav. I think people have been waiting to hear from you since the game Sunday. Yeah. What do you want to say? I don't know. Where do you want to start? I mean, I already, you know, congratulated the Eagles. It was hard going into the exit interviews today. Obviously, the last time I'll see probably a lot of those guys as it'll be a bit of a turnover this year, knowing the contract situations and everything.

2:34And outside of the game, I just wanted to thank my teammates for everything they fucking do, man. We, you know, the effort, the focus, the work that we put in, that wasn't the reason, you know. Um, honestly, uh, going into the game, I felt as confident as I ever felt, um, in going into a Superbowl or a playoff game or a big game in my life. And, you know, for a bunch of reasons that just, uh, it just didn't happen, man. It just wasn't our day. Um, couldn't find a lick of momentum. I'm kicking myself for some of the tiny, tiny decisions I made on the field. Um, trying to do something more than what I was asked to do during plays.

3:21I wasn't the best leader that I could be in motivating my guys and keeping my guys calm, cool, collected. I put a lot of that on myself as the guy that's been in the building for 12 years and seen a lot of football and actually seen a situation just like this in the Super Bowl, talking about the Tampa Bay Super Bowl. It's a tough pill to swallow, man. Every time we felt like we made a big play or we got something going, a penalty would happen or we'd be going backwards. Then on top of that, just not executing the play calls. It wasn't the play calls. It was a cumulative effort of everybody just not finding a way to get it done, man.

4:06To happen on the biggest stage sucks, but to have it happen for the second time in my career on the biggest stage, man. a tough pill to swallow. It's a hard reality, man. And, um, you know, I just, uh, I love my, my teammates. I love my coaches, chief's kingdom. I'm sorry for, for how it ended, but you know, it's, uh, fuck, you know, I have a, I have a beautiful life. I have a beautiful life, man. I have, um, I have loved ones. I have the most amazing family in the world that supports me and everything that I do. And they were all there, you know, cheering me on and hoping for the best on Sunday, man.

4:45I just have to tip my hat to the Eagles. They were firing on all cylinders coming out. And it just felt like we just never had control over what was going on in that game. I feel like every time you guys try to get something going, it just like didn't work out, right? It's like you're close to getting the third down, get them off the field, and they have to make a big play. There's a penalty. There's up until even like halftime, even though the score was getting out of control, there's that big throw, the D hop that doesn't get caught. And even then, I'm like, all right, if the Chiefs go down here, they score before half, they get the ball coming out of half.

5:19Yeah, I just came away very much. I know you guys are kicking yourselves for not playing your best game. I just, you know, the Eagles played fantastic. Everybody played their best across the board. I mean, it was a truly impressive game from Philadelphia defensively. All those guys, Vic Fangio, Jalen Hurts played very well. And that was the thing. All week, everybody's talking about, you know, what Spag's going to do. Is he going to try and sell out to stop Saquon and, you know, give the one-on-one matchups on the outside? And I don't know. It almost like didn't matter. I felt like it felt like Jalen was just on it and he was executing regardless of what it was.

6:03But I know this sucks to talk about for future half. I've been here, obviously. Two years ago, I was here. That was great. But, you know, I think it was a really impressive performance by Philadelphia, to say the least. Yeah, it's going to sting. I know everybody wants to know whether or not I'm playing next year. And right now, I'm just kicking everything down the road. I'm kicking every can I can down the road. And I'm not making any crazy decisions, but I right now the the biggest thing is just being there for my teammates and being there for my coaches, understanding, you know, that there's a lot that goes into this thing.

6:45You know, I've been fortunate over the past five, six years, I've played more football than anybody. Yeah. And it's because the people that are in that building and the fact that we keep going to these AFC championships and these Super Bowls. And that means I'm playing an extra three games more than everybody else in the entire league. And that's a lot of wear and tear on your body. And it's a lot of time spent in the building, focusing on your craft, focusing on the task at hand, every challenge that you set up for yourself. And that process can be grueling. It can weigh on you. It can make you better, and it can drive you crazy at the same time.

7:29And right now, it's one of those things where it was kind of driving me crazy this year. And I think that it happens as you kind of tail off towards the back nine of your career, as the SVP would say. As you see yourself or not feel yourself have the success that you once used to have, man, it's a tough pill to swallow. And then on top of that, to not be there in the biggest moments, knowing your team's counting on you, man. And that's those those are all extremely hard things to it's just a tough reality. And, you know, I think I'm going to take some time to figure it out. And I think I owe it to my teammates that if I do come back, that it's going to be something that it's a wholehearted decision.

8:21I'm not half assing it and I'm I'm fully here for them. And I think I think I could play. It's just whether or not I'm motivated or it's the best decision for me as a man, as a human, as a person to take on all that responsibility. You preach into the choir, brother. It sucks when you get to this point in the career where it becomes harder and harder to do it. And I think there's a physicality that becomes more difficult to manage. There's a mental approach that becomes more difficult to manage because a lot of times it's stocked on top of the physical discomfort and things that are happening.

9:03To do it right, you have to be committed. You have to put the time in. You have to be, you know, all in. And it's difficult to sign up for that because you know what it takes. You've been here three years in a row. You've been to this game multiple times. You've had an amazing amount of success. and it's frustrating when you're getting older in your career and you know that that is becoming harder and harder to do and more and more grueling to go through. So take your time. Obviously, get away from everything for a while. The biggest thing is that, you know, after the game, I still had over 50 something plus of my best friends and my family and my loved ones and everybody that has supported me throughout my life was there to, you know, at least make it not feel like the worst day of my life.

10:03an opportunity to get all those people together under one roof, be around them, you know, hug them, smile with them, find a way to, you know, get through something really, really tough. It definitely made it a little, a little easier, but the reality is going to suck here for quite a while. It's just life, man. It's life. This is, this sport can humble you so fast, man. it could give you so much praise it can it can shoot you to the moon and it can uh it can bury you man it can absolutely bury you and uh you know it's just it's the occupation we chose and you know not not everything uh can go as planned um sometimes even though uh we've been able to find a way over the uh the past you know however long but especially this year in this team we we We were known for finding a way.

10:58And as much as I like to think we could have done things differently, man, it just didn't feel like at the end of it it was meant to be. It is what it is. Yeah, I mean, listen, it's never been done before. It's never been done before for a reason. It's incredibly hard. It's hard to keep teams intact. It's hard to keep – you're having extended season. You guys have played 60 games damn near over the past three years or whatever. And I'm not trying to make excuses. There's just a reason why it's never been done. And I think that, you know, I know you guys are frustrated right now. I know you're frustrated.

11:39I think the reality is what you guys have done is amazing still. Yeah. I know that you don't want to hear that right now. And I know that that game is frustrating as a result. But that doesn't take away from the last seven times you guys have been to the AFC Championship or whatever it is. And five – I mean, it's remarkable, the journey and the run you guys have had. And you and Pat and Chris and certain guys have been at the epicenter of this for that entire time. And a lot of the guys on this team have been there for three – this was their third time in a row. I know it's frustrating to look at this one game, especially because it was such a dominating game for the Eagles.

12:21but I think that the reality is it's one of the incredible runs that's ever happened in this fucking game. And you guys have your legacies cemented on that and nobody can take that away. I mean, people could try to talk shit, especially if they've never done anything in their lives, but that's the reality of it. There was one thing accomplished, which is Travis Kelsey set a record, a record for most catches in a career in the Superbowl, which, Trav, that's a big record. It's not a very big record. Why do you say it's not a big record? I have a lot of Super Bowl appearances. So do a lot of people.

12:58What do they say? Records are meant to be broken. That they are. Well, you broke one. You broke the most catches in Super Bowl history, which I know that you don't probably care that much about it right now because of the way the game went. And, I mean, you have so many records at this point that this is kind of like just another one. But at the end of the day, it's just another thing that cements you as one of the best players ever to play in the NFL. I know you don't care, but I think at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, the records mean a little bit. Because once you're done, that's kind of all you have left is like the memories, the trophies, which obviously mean the most, and then the stuff that makes other people recognize greatness, which unfortunately there are a lot of stats, but that's kind of all we have.

13:47Outside of trophies and highlights. No, I mean, I'm still, that's the last thing that I care about right now. I know, but you will. And it's dope. Just here to tell you, it's a fucking dope record. Thanks, brother. As are all your other records. The only record I get is that he kept going on the field. He's out there again.

14:17man this guy this guy really won't take a break he's headed out to the field for another consecutive week how'd he do no one knows just counts as a game played

14:31he only played the first drive i know he had four bad snaps yeah exactly yeah there we go i feel for you because losing a super bowl sucks i mean i don't wish that anybody i talk all week i no matter who won or lost i feel like i was going to be feeling shitty and feeling more with the team that lost because i know what that feels like and it's fucking terrible what was it like for you watching this one terrible yeah you mentioned you tweeted out something um and yeah but i didn't even want to tweet it i think i would rather do it here because you'd be able to talk more. But it doesn't matter what happens.

15:08Whatever you say is going to get clipped or touched and put out. It sucks. I knew it was going to be weird going into it. It progressively got weirder as the week went on. On one hand, you played your entire life with an organization and team. A lot of people in that building, coaches, friends, teammates that that you've gone through adversity with, and it really makes you very, very close. And then on the other hand, you have your brother, and I've always supported you. I've always wanted you to win. Every step of the way. And I wanted you to win this game. I thought I made that clear. You made it clear to me.

15:48It was weird, man. It was hard to navigate because I'm trying to, like, obviously I'm trying to say that I have people on the Eagles that I love, and I also have you. And I tried to make it known that I was rooting for you, and it felt like I couldn't be right. It felt like no matter what I said, some people were going to skew it and say that I'm rooting for the Eagles, and some people were going to skew it and say that I was rooting for the Chiefs or Travis, and it sucked. It's just the world we live in, man. Everybody wants to just fucking call people out. I know I always had your support, and I joked around saying with your cheering for the Eagles, Listen, you and Kylie are there in Philly and have created one of the most beautiful situations that I've ever seen.

16:30You guys are loved by the community out there. You guys are very much a part of the community out there. Outside of that, that organization, everything from the foundation stuff that Kylie does, both of you guys do, to the countless, countless amount of hours and years you spent in that organization, giving it everything that you have. You don't have to explain anything to anybody as long as the people right here. I know who Jason Kelsey is, and I know my brother and what his intentions are, and nobody can ever fucking confuse that. And you can't let these jemokes online make you think that you're in the wrong for what you're saying.

17:15What you're saying is I hear it. I hear it loud and clear, And I think the people in the Philadelphia organization understand exactly who you are and what you represent and how you are saying it as well. And all that is true. Like, we are still very much attached to this organization, which is why there is part of me that obviously is very happy and proud that they have won this game. But that doesn't take – And that doesn't make you less of a brother. That doesn't make you less of a brother. All I want to say, that does not take precedence over rooting for you. Yeah. And that's why this game sucked.

17:50It was very, very hard to watch. As much as I love the Eagles, as much as I love the city of Philadelphia, there was not a fucking out to me.

18:04And I know that, like, I don't know. I tried to correlate that I was rooting for both sides the whole time and that I was going to be happy and sad regardless. That's what I heard. No matter who won, it was going to be a happy and sad regardless. this and trying to communicate why i might be rooting for the eagles i think some people i don't even want to do this i don't even know like as now we've already done it welcome you don't owe any of these dickheads the acknowledgement you really don't jason everyone that knows you knows your intentions anybody saying anything otherwise is like you said just a fucking just trying to get a rise out of somebody else it was the weirdest game ever watching because the only other time you don't care about the outcome is when you're not really attached to either of the teams.

18:50And in that case, there's not a lot of emotion put into it. Yeah. Like I still remember like the first play, the AJ Brown penalty. I remember this like wealth of like, like I jumped up out of my seat. That wasn't a penalty. Like I, like I jumped up out of my seat on that one. Then I jumped up out of my seat on the Nick Bolton hitting Dallas Goddard because I thought that was a horseshit call. And I'm going back and forth. It ended up just not being a fun game to be a part of her watch because at all times I'm just like, I was, yeah, I don't know. I don't even know what I want to say, man. I really don't because no matter what, it's going to piss somebody off and I probably shouldn't care if it pisses anybody off that's probably the reality of it that's the that's the Jason Kelsa we all know right there you're giving these people way too much fucking too much of your effort too much of your time too much of your attention I didn't know what it was going to feel like going through the game I thought I did I thought I understood going into it that I would be happy in some way sad in another way and that but like the further the game went on i just got more and more like down upset and i part of that is like i'm in a box with all of our family and loved ones and friends we're all just like dude this this sucks for trev this sucks for his team and i don't i don't know like i wasn't I didn't anticipate the amount of just like sheer discomfort and frustration that I would have watching the game.

20:30I thought I would kind of just be like, oh, you know, like I like both of these teams. Whoever wins made the best team win. And it just didn't turn into that. It did. Yeah. And I don't know if it would have been reversed, if it would have been the same way. I don't think it would have. If it was an actual fucking game. That might have made it better. Yeah. I think the fact that it was that kind of like lopsided was like, man, this is fucking just like hard to be honest with you. Yeah. Listen, man, nobody's going to be able to relate to what you or me or, you know, even Kylie. Nobody can relate to what it's like to have to pick between those two, like this type of situation.

21:15I wasn't trying to pick. That's my whole thing. I wasn't trying to pick. Exactly. Exactly. So, but it's, you can still be happy for somebody and you can still be sad for somebody. It is what it is, you know? And at the end of the day, it's fucking football, man. And I know I'm saying it like that because I just lost the fucking game and I'm going to act like it didn't mean the entire world, but it's my third. It's my third in three years. I've had so much success playing this game it still means the world and it always will and this one's gonna fucking hurt just like fucking Tampa did and I think about that way too often but this game is just you know it's it's just our jobs my my life is still beautiful my I come home to a an amazing household of family and friends that absolutely love me and I you know that's that's the beauty of, you know, going through a hard time like this is that, you know, I can still have happiness and still have, uh, an amazing time in life.

22:22Um, even when something like this happens, because I got the support that I do and that's, that's how I'm going to feel about it. I'm definitely compartmentalizing and, and, uh, and, you know, putting this in the back corner and I'll deal with this at another time, but you know, I'm, I'm not going to sit here and, and act like the world's over because of this thing. And I don't think... I would not expect you to. Yeah. I just don't know how to articulate that I'm happy for some of the Eagles, but at the same time, I was miserable during the game watching you not achieve your success again. Yeah.

23:00That's the reality of it. Like, I didn't enjoy any part of that. It fucking sucked. And, like, it felt weird for me not to be cheering. That's what it felt like. It felt like, why the fuck am I not as excited? And I think it was just a fucked up emotion. And it's really incredible that the Eagles pulled this off. It's been incredible from last year's ending and the way this team has rebounded, the way they've been rebuilt from 2022 and before that. It's a tip of the cap for Howie Roseman. There are so many new players on the defensive side of the ball, and all of these young guys ended up panning out and have played at a high level between Cooper DeGene, Quinion Mitchell, Zach Vaughn, Milton Williams, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis on the defensive line, Nolan Smith, Vic Fangio, and all the coaches on the defensive side of the ball.

23:51It didn't start great. I mean, they started 2-2, coming off of a year where they finished 7-8. And the way they stuck together, the way they got better, the way they continued to improve and how they finished the season has been spectacular on that side of the ball. Obviously getting Saquon was huge offensively, getting rid of the undersized center, Jason Kelsey and putting in Cam Juergens, getting Makai Becton in at right guard. I just think everything was fantastic and how they continued to block out noise, questioning Nick Sirianni and his ability as a head coach, questioning Jalen Hurts, questioning everybody.

24:28And these guys really stuck it together and found a way to fucking do it. And it's hard. It is so hard to get all the way to the Super Bowl and win in this league. I just think this is such a huge moment for all of these guys that came up short two years ago that were there and how they built this thing in the two years since. And it makes being a former Eagle extremely proud. And I think the entire city obviously means a lot. do you want me to cut all that travis you look like you're just like it's your dude you're allowed to have your world your legacy your word you're allowed to have that you can be happy for your former teammates don't let who what happened to me you know make you feel any less proud of what you've helped build i didn't help build shit they did this on their i'm not a part of this you did i hear you i hear you like to think that jason i think that you've shown a lot of people in that building, how to be a professional, how to do things the right way.

25:35So I can sit here and say that you definitely had a piece of that. I know you weren't in that building doing everything, but I've heard guys like Jordan Malata talk about you. I've heard guys like Jalen Hurts talk about you. I've heard Lane Johnson talk about you and what you've been to their career. So you can say that you had nothing to do with it, but bits and pieces of who you are still living and breathing in that facility, for sure. Well, shout out to Philadelphia. If anybody wants to drink a garage beer, the limes are a nice Kelly green-ish. I should not do that. I got a garage beer hat on.

26:20I've had like three cases since the game. that does it for uh the recap because now we're getting into out of the house out of the house brought to you by american express jason how was it being down in new orleans all week was it as was it as tasty and as fun as you remember it being dude uh first of all i don't remember a lot from college i feel like when you're playing in a game you don't really get to experience the cities you know this you guys are there for the whole week but you're practicing and your schedule is so laid out. You have like maybe two to three hours of the day that you could go do something.

26:57And when you get that time, you're usually not spending it going out. You're like, all right, I'm gonna take this time to do nothing. This was the first time being in New Orleans where I really got to experience the city because every other time I've been there, it's been for football. And I gotta say, I fucking love that city, man. It was an awesome host city. Las Vegas was great. It really was. And it was the perfect infrastructure set up the host of Super Bowl. New Orleans, the perfect vibe, food, mentality, culture. I mean, it was just unreal. The issue was the infrastructure is awful. Like there was going from place to place was a train wreck.

27:34And then at night, for some reason, they have this ordinance that whenever the train's coming through town, it has to blow its horn every time it's going to a crosswalk. So you're just hearing a fucking train horn constantly in the middle of the night, which is annoying as fuck. But outside of that, it was fantastic. It was really good. beignets yeah i was about to say you get some more beignets some more gumbo or what i went to i went to cafe du mans like the original one which not even just the beignets it's the whole vibe of it like it's got like the little hats and the get up and you're outside and it's just a it's a dope vibe you ever been to keys no i don't even know what the rest of it's like keys fried chicken i think it's i'm we're so i went to get my palm red and we were talking we had like all these trendy spots that we were going to hit up after that and after the palm ring they're like oh we were trying to like where are we going to go to eat and the guys hey if you want the local experience you got to go to keys i was like keys like yeah it's a gas station the service fried chicken i was like yeah that's that's right up jason kelsey's alley so we went over to this place bro the most like it was similar not not similar but like again the best barbecue spot my favorite barbecue spot in Kansas City is Joe's.

28:48Like, there's something about food being served at a gas station that just is like, yeah, I'm going to check this out. If it's got a good – if food at a gas station has some word of the mouth going about it, you know that shit's good. So we pull up to this spot, Keys. It's got po' boys, fried chicken. I get up there. This is what made Sheetz and Quick Trip, like the stables that they are in this world. No doubt. And I get up there, and I'm like, all right, let me get some dark meat. And the guy's like, get the white meat. I was like, dude, it's too dry. I don't like white meat. He's like, hey, this white meat ain't dry.

29:19So I got a chicken breast. First bite into that chicken breast, dog. Dry as shit. Nothing dry about it. That shit was so fucking good. And it was the perfect amount of spice where it's not overwhelmingly spicy in that first bite. But the more you eat, it just like starts engulfing you. Yeah. It gets you going. But I got the fried chicken. I got a hot sausage po' boy, which was phenomenal. I tried a pineapple soda, Big Shot, which I guess is specific to New Orleans. It was like a pineapple creamsicle. It was so fucking good. So I was getting a bunch of convenience store, local spots, some baked good that came in like a tray.