Exclusive:Donna Kelce Comforts Son Jason Kelce for the Crushing defeat in the last game and as He Prepares to Retire.. “It was a tough ride but you did your very best”

Kelce has reportedly told his Philadelphia teammates he is hanging up his cleats and His mom says both him and brother Travis have had a difficult journey to the top.

Donna Kelce has heaped praise on her sons Jason and Travis after admitting the NFL-star brothers have endured a ‘tough ride’ to the top of their profession.

Jason and Travis are considered two of the greatest players of all time in their respective positions, having enjoyed great success with the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs over the past decade.

However, after crashing out of this season’s playoffs in a 32-9 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, reports suggest Jason, 36, has told teammates that he is bringing the curtain down on his iconic 13-year football career.

Ahead of what appears to have been her eldest son’s last-ever game, Donna beamed about Jason and Travis’s success in an interview with PEOPLE, while also shedding light on how their family has remained ‘tight-knit’ over the years.

‘We’re very, very small,’ the 71-year-old said. ‘We’re tight-knit. We stay together and try to help each other as much as we can.’

Football’s most famous mom then explained their family dynamic, revealing that Jason and Travis were the only children given her brother and her husband’s sister didn’t have kids.

‘Growing up they used to yell at me because they didn’t have any cousins to play with on Christmas,’ she recalled.

While they were best friends as kids and remain close to this day, the Kelce brothers are polar opposites as characters.

Jason has a more settled, low-key family life with wife Kylie – who recently spoke of her desire to stay out of the spotlight – and their three children, while Travis is one half of a celebrity supercouple after sparking a romance with pop sensation Taylor Swift last summer.

Though despite their contrasting lifestyles and football schedules, the pair still manage to catch up at least on a weekly basis when recording their New Heights podcast, which has become a national phenomenon since launching in September 2022.

Obviously, football has gotten in the way and they both have their own very, very full lives,’ Donna continued about her sons, who became the first ever brothers to compete against each other in the Super Bowl last year.

‘[But I’m] very, very happy that they get to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

‘It’s a tough ride to get to where they are right now.’

According to NFL insider Adam Schefter, Jason is set to walk away from the NFL after a remarkable 13-year career, informing his teammates of his decision in the locker room following their defeat to the Bucs.

Kelce, a father-of-three, strongly considered retiring at the end of last season and filmed his struggle to make a decision which later became a hit Amazon Prime documentary.

Eventually he decided to play on and signed a one-year contract with the Eagles for this season, but was due to become a free agent in March.

But this time it appears he’s walking away for good and Kelce looked overcome by emotion in the final few seconds of his team’s dreadful 32-9 loss to Bucs.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said about Kelce after the game: ‘He’s a legend in this city – really in the league, I don’t want to do a disservice to him and the things he’s been able to do and overcome.

‘His journey to where he is now didn’t come easy, it’s been a long long time coming for him and every year since I’ve been here its been “you wanna come back?”

‘But he knows he knows how much I love and appreciate him he knows how much I’ve learned from him and he’ll forever have a special place in my heart.