Jason Kelce Shouted Out His 'Humbled' Band Teacher in Retirement Speech

Brett Baker wasn't watching Jason Kelce's retirement speech on Monday, so he missed the moment live when a potential NFL Hall of Fame center thanked him in a deeply emotional punctuation mark at the end of his playing career.

In fairness to Baker, however, not many football players go out of their way to thank their high school band director.

Roughly six minutes into his 40-minute speech, the former Philadelphia Eagles star shouted out former Cleveland Heights High School head coach Mike Jones, as well as other football and hockey coaches, before closing with Baker.

"All of you taught me countless lessons and put up with a very young, rambunctious kid that was full of immaturity, stupidity and cockiness," Kelce said. "I would without question not be where I am today without your efforts with me and the countless other children you served."

In a phone interview with Newsweek on Tuesday, Baker—who now teaches at an elementary school ("less nights and weekends")—said he was "humbled" by the shout-out.

"There's a lot of coaches on the list," Baker said. "It's kind of cool to be the band director and be mentioned. A lot of my friends, and even some people I don't know, band director forums on Facebook or social media, they are commenting about how cool it is that he mentioned the band director...He's brought me up on the podcast. Every time, that's pretty cool, I'm not going to lie to you."

Baker met Kelce in 2002 when a friend from a local middle school told him to look for a talented baritone saxophone player about to enter the high school ranks. That saxophonist was Kelce, who tried out for the jazz band as a freshman.

"He did very well in his audition," Baker said.

Kelce continued to improve at saxophone, taking private lessons with a local teacher. Over the course of his tenure at Cleveland Heights, the elder Kelce brother became integral to both his football team and his band. For the football team, he was a jack-of-all-trades who was deeply passionate about the game.

"He was willing to do whatever the coaches needed him to do," Mike Jones told Newsweek in a phone interview. "Some players have it in their minds that, 'I'm this or that.' Jason was like, 'Listen, get me to where I can be the best I can be for this team.'"

Kelce played inside linebacker, tight end, long-snapper, fullback and other positions for Cleveland Heights. He was so malleable, he once took over quarterback for a quarter when the team's starter missed a practice.

"He got a quarter in and we had to get him out of there, but he did start the game at quarterback," Jones said. "That's the type of player you want. You want a person who says 'Hey coach, whatever it is.'"

Meanwhile, Kelce held his own in a jazz band that featured multiple future professional musicians. The band's drummer, James Muschler, went on to play in the international touring band Moon Hooch. The keyboardist, Jacob Bergson, plays in the band Nerve with drummer Jojo Mayer. The trumpet player, Ethan Farris, garnered 1.4 million listens on Spotify in 2023 under the moniker E-Swerve.

Over the years, Kelce learned to balance being a football player with musical commitments (with plenty of help from his parents, Donna and Ed). Baker even tried to connect Kelce with a band director at the University of Cincinnati, although Kelce, who was a preferred walk-on for the football team, was too busy earning his spot to continue with the instrument.

"Obviously he had to squeeze it in the cracks, and he was committed enough to do that," Baker said. "And he knew that doesn't come easy. You have to work at this.

"He was interviewed at one point a number of years ago, and he said, 'You're going to suck at first, but if you practice and work hard, you'll going to get better.' Something along those lines was his words. He knew it wasn't going to magically happen, whether that be in sports or that be in music or whatever."

"Jason has always just been a leader," Jones said. "Just a real solid person, a hard worker."

Like Baker, Jones was unable to watch the retirement speech live, but he received a text from a family member letting him know that he received a shout-out as well. Jones, who was teaching a physical education class at the time, described the moment as "very emotional."

"I just felt good about it for him and his family," Jones said. I know it's a tough day for him, emotional day for him. It's hard. You've been playing this game for so many years, and there's nothing like crossing that line, stepping on that field, and getting ready to go to battle.

"It's a tough let go, and he's a tough man."

Baker credited Jones, who still teaches at Cleveland Heights, for being a "wonderful educator" who prioritized youth development as the head coach over a win-at-all-cost mentality, which allowed athletes at Cleveland Heights to take part in other activities as well.

Kelce's shout-out, meanwhile, was "a lot of PR for music education," he said.

"It's a really nice opportunity for music education to get that crossover spotlight and see the impact that just one student in your classroom," Baker said. "Fast forward 20 years, and here we are. You never know who you are teaching."

Jones and Baker stay in touch with Kelce. In a recent conversation with Baker, Kelce broached the subject of piano lessons for his oldest daughter. Jones, meanwhile, attends an Eagles game every year. Both men hope to catch up with Kelce if he returns to town on Tuesday as expected for the Cleveland Cavaliers' game against the Boston Celtics, which is a bobblehead night for the Kelce brothers. Still, both Jones and Baker respect his busy schedule and numerous time commitments.

"He was one of those kids that came along that we teach, and we do the best you can, and we try to put our little piece of the puzzle in that makes the adult," Baker said. The parents, the other teachers, the coaches, and all the people those kids come in contact with—we're all putting our piece of the puzzle.

"Fast forward 20 years, and you've got a Hall of Fame football player who remembers his time playing in band. It's kind of cool."