ESPN reveals it’s trying to get Jason Kelce to stop saying one controversial word

Read the original at New York Post ↗
New York Post · collected 2026-10-13 · by Erich Richter

Quick Summary

ESPN is working with Jason Kelce, a former Philadelphia Eagles center now transitioning to sports broadcasting for the network, to help him avoid using the word “we” when referring to teams other than his former team during broadcasts. This issue came to light during a "Monday Night Football" halftime show where Kelce repeatedly used "we" while discussing the Eagles' performance against the Bears. ESPN producer Jeff Dufine admitted in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer that getting Kelce to use more objective language is a work in progress, despite recognizing his talent for analysis.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-13, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

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Story summary

ESPN is trying to help Jason Kelce, former Eagles center and current ESPN broadcaster, stop using the word "we" when discussing games he's broadcasting. This became evident during a Sept. 28 "Monday Night Football" halftime show, where Kelce repeatedly referred to the Eagles as "his team." In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Jeff Dufine, who leads ESPN’s international broadcasts for his first season, admitted that Kelce is still learning to adapt from player to analyst and has been coached to avoid saying "we" when he's not actually playing. This mistake of speaking as if he were still a current player drew immediate criticism from co-host Pat McAfee on air, leading to an awkward situation for Kelce.

Written for “Jason Kelce Language Controversy” on 2026-10-13, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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No political leaning scored for article 76633 · logged 2026-10-13

Story

📰 Jason Kelce Language Controversy
Entertainment · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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Cite this article

Richter, E. (2026, October 13). ESPN reveals it’s trying to get Jason Kelce to stop saying one controversial word. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/13/sports/espn-reveals-theyre-trying-to-get-jason-kelce-to-stop-saying-one-controversial-word/

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
67/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-13 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 9714 article(s) · 30 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 30 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Erich Richter
59 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 A Patriots weapon is set to miss time, just as another is nearing a return.
🔮 During a halftime show alongside Scott Van Pelt and Pat McAfee on Sept. 28, when the Bears made easy work of the Eagles on “Monday Night Football,” Kelce couldn’t stop referring to the Eagles as his team.
🔮 Mevis would line up for the field goal and it would be blocked by star defensive lineman Greg Rousseau to keep Buffalo alive.
🔮 Add in that Tyler Shough has cleared this number twice this season and faces a blitz-heavy team that Brian Flores brings, and I see Shough being willing to move more often than usual.
🔮 With it having been a while since we’ve been in the warehouse that’s located in the middle of the desert, and we’ll have another 12 fights to enjoy and bet on. Of the 12 fights, a whopping eight of them are projected to end inside distance.
🔮 Payton’s move could help Bo Nix find his stride again, with the third-year QB having thrown for five touchdowns and three interceptions, connecting on just 60 percent of his passes for 819 yards over four games.
🔮 The Bronx Bombers will need to replace his production as his season ended uncomfortably, with him being benched to start Game 3 before he took over for Jose Caballero.
🔮 Chisholm then barely beat out what would have been a season-ending double play in the ninth inning on a hard hit ball to second base.
🔮 Beckham Jr. was expected to be a key contributor for the Giants after Calvin Austin III went out with an injury, but that did not materialize.
🔮 James signed for the league minimum to facilitate the deal and be able to sign wherever he wanted, and reports have trickled out that Michael Rubin, the billionaire owner of Fanatics who used to be a part owner of the 76ers, might have a bit more to do with James’ decision than was previously known.
Also by Erich Richter
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 59 articles by Erich Richter →

Topics

ESPN Eagles Jags Jaguars the Philadelphia Inquirer

Subjects

Kelce PERSON · 11× ESPN ORG · 4× Eagles ORG · 4× Dufine PERSON · 3× Jaguars ORG · 3× Jags ORG · 2× McAfee PERSON · 2× , Jason Kelce PERSON · 1× Jeff Dufine PERSON · 1× the Philadelphia Inquirer ORG · 1×

Narrative

In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, longtime ESPN producer Jeff Dufine, who is in his first season in charge of the international games broadcast, said that Kelce is still a work in progress with a microphone in his hand.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-13
🔮 During a halftime show alongside Scott Van Pelt and Pat McAfee on Sept. 28, when the Bears made easy work of the Eagles on “Monday Night Football,” Kelce couldn’t stop referring to the Eagles as his team.

Claims (18 extracted, 0 hedged)

“We” belongs in the stands, not the booth. asserted
We → belong → stands
Former Eagles center turned ESPN broadcaster, Jason Kelce, has had a tough time nailing down that part of the job and the Worldwide Leader is admitting it. asserted
Leader → turn → it
In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, longtime ESPN producer Jeff Dufine, who is in his first season in charge of the international games broadcast, said that Kelce is still a work in progress with a microphone in his hand. asserted
Kelce → say → hand
“We’ve tried to get the ‘we’ out of him,” Dufine admitted, adding that professional athletes transitioning into the booth have had this common mistake. asserted
athletes → try → mistake
During a halftime show alongside Scott Van Pelt and Pat McAfee on Sept. 28, when the Bears made easy work of the Eagles on “Monday Night Football,” Kelce couldn’t stop referring to the Eagles as his team. asserted
Kelce → make → team
“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 drawing some immediate criticism from McAfee. asserted
Kelce → play → McAfee
“A lot of ‘we’ talk out of Jason for Philly,” McAfee quipped, forcing a slew of apologies from Kelce on the broadcast. asserted
McAfee → quip → broadcast
The interaction drew some discussion around Kelce’s transition as a broadcaster, as he’s been heavily featured on ESPN broadcasts. asserted
he → draw → broadcasts
Fired ESPN broadcaster Ryan Clark, who successfully made the transition from player to the booth, came to Kelce’s defense in the matter. asserted
who → fire → matter
Dufine believes that Kelce has a natural talent for the business, he continued in his interview with the Inquirer. asserted
he → believe → Inquirer
“He sees the game really well,” Dufine said before the Jaguars-Eagles game in London, where Kelce provided color commentary. asserted
Kelce → see → commentary
“Just tell me what you’re seeing, and we’ll support you the best way we can throughout the course of the game.” asserted
we → tell → game
Kelce also jumped in to quell any nerves of Jaguars fans who were expecting biased commentary. asserted
who → jump → commentary
“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. asserted
Kelce → want → podcast
“I will be doing my utmost to give you guys the credit you deserve. asserted
you → do → credit
Jacksonville’s playing as good as any team right now in the AFC. asserted
Jacksonville → play → AFC
I really do believe that.” asserted
I → believe → that
Everything seemed to go smoothly from Kelce’s perspective in the game, though the Eagles blew the game late on a horrific kickoff to the Jaguars that led to a game-winning field goal attempt as time expired. asserted
time → seem → attempt
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