Jason Kelce, one of the best centers in NFL history, announced his retirement on Monday after 13 seasons in the league, all spent with the Philadelphia Eagles. As the only center to be selected to the First Team All-Pro and win a Super Bowl, Kelce distinguished himself from a number of the greatest players of history at his position and cemented his place in the Hall of Fame with his last All-Pro nomination in his final season.
In his 30s, Kelce was selected to the First Team All-Pro 6 times, which is the most of all players in that age group (Jerry Rice and Bruce Smith are 2nd with 5). In his last 3 seasons, he was named to the First Team All-Pro three times, indicating that he was at the height of his game.
The two only players in the Super Bowl era to be selected to the Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro 3 times in a row in any one of their final 3 seasons are Kelce and Dwight Stephenson.
ProFootballReference.com’s Approximate Value (AV) is one way to gauge Kelce’s excellence among the other best centers in NFL history, even though it’s difficult to compare them. A player’s annual value at every position from every year (since 1960) can be approximated using a single number; nevertheless, the value increases with the amount of games and seasons played.
The majority of the seasons with a 15+ approximate value belong to Mike Webster (four), while the majority of seasons with a 10+ approximate value belong to Jim Otto (12).
Although it’s hard to quantify, Kelce is regarded as one of the all-time great center players. In addition, his approximate worth is the second-highest of any center with less than 200 games played.
Jim Otto (163 AV)
Throughout his 15-year career with the Raiders, Otto—possibly the finest center in NFL history—was selected to 10 First Team All-Pro teams and 12 Pro Bowls, the most by any center in NFL history. Otto never missed a game, starting all 210 of his games as a player and earning First Team All-Pro status in 10 of his initial 11 years.
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