Jason Kelce bursts into floods of tears live on ESPN over pre-Super Bowl segment with NFL icon overcome with emotion

JASON KELCE was overcome with emotion live on ESPN during the broadcasters Super Bowl pre-game shown. It came as the Philadelphia Eagles legend discussed the shocking New Orleans terrorist attack. On January 1 at around 3:15am CST, a man drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, New Orleans, LA killing 14 people and injuring at least 30 others. Last month the Eagles invited one of the survivors, Ryan Quigley, to their training facility, allowing retired center Kelce to spend time with the lifelong fan.

Quigley suffered serious injuries in the attack, but his best friend and former Princeton football team-mate, Tiger Bech, lost his life. Bech was a Louisiana native but Quigley had convinced him to become an Eagles fan, with the pair having spoken about hoping to watch the franchise win the Super Bowl one day. Kelce, 37, discussed the incident and his interactions with Quigley on ESPN during their pre-game coverage of Super Bowl LIX, in which the Eagles were facing reigning champions Kansas City Chiefs.

However, he could not hold back his tears and was offered the chance to "take a moment" by co-host Mike Greenberg after choking up. Tearful Kelce said: "There's some awful people in this world. "And I had the fortune to meet Ryan, and his spirit, you wouldn't even know something happened if he wasn't in a wheelchair before the Rams game. "On one end, something terrible can happen. On the other end, something so beautiful can happen.

"I'm just happy he's gonna be here. On behalf of Eagles fans everywhere, hell yeah, Ryan.". Quigley had said he'd never visit New Orleans again. But he is returning as the Eagles look to win their second-ever Super Bowl, with their first coming in 2017, after being gifted a pair of tickets by veteran Philadelphia defensive end Brandon Graham. In the story reported by Marty Smith, he said: "I'm pretty nervous to be back in New Orleans, but I thought about it and I know Tiger would want me to be here.

"He would always say, 'I'm here for a good time, not a long time,' and d---, is that true.". The Eagles have lost in the Super Bowl three times, including in 2022 when they lost to the Chiefs - who are now looking to win an unprecedented three-peat after also winning in 2023. It was announced last April that Kelce would join the broadcaster's Monday Night Countdown, two months after he retired from a 13-year career with the Eagles.

It has been reported he signed a three-year contract with ESPN worth $24million. Kelce will be watching younger brother Travis as he competes for the Chiefs. As over 125,000 people arrive ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, The U.S. Sun spoke to security experts and people on the street in New Orleans to gauge the mood following the horrifying terror attack from five weeks ago.

Spirits are high considering the nightmare of the Bourbon Street attack. "The city is the safest it's ever been," said David Hedges, an experienced tour guide and owner of a company called The NOLA Tour Guy. The Super Bowl is classified as a Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) Level 1 event, the highest classification level of public safety risk. It means the strictest level of security is in operation—the upcoming Mardi Gras in New Orleans also recently received the same grading for the first time.

Ahead of the Chiefs' push for a historic three-peat, the New Orleans PD has joined forces with the Louisiana State Police, the FBI, and other federal agencies. Preparations for President Donald Trump's arrival at the Superdome on Sunday went up considerably amid reports of multiple "threats" to the event. But even without the POTUS creating his waves, a steel ring was always the plan following the events of January 1.