This Eagles trainer couldn’t make Jason Kelce’s last game because of cancer. He still got to tape his ankles one last time

Longtime Eagles trainer Joe O’Pella was able to play a part in Jason Kelce’s retirement announcement, just like the two of them had done across 13 years in Philly.

Jason Kelce’s recent retirement announcement led to an outpouring of emotion from all corners of the NFL, most of all from the former Philadelphia Eagles center himself. Kelce called time on his likely Hall of Fame career in a tearful press conference on Monday after 13 seasons in the league, all of them with Philadelphia. Longtime Eagles trainer Joe O’Pella was able to play a part in the retirement announcement, just like the two of them had done during Kelce’s long run in Philly. In a heartfelt Instagram post on Tuesday, O’Pella revealed that he missed the Eagles’ final game of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Kelce’s final NFL outing – because of his recent cancer diagnosis and therefore didn’t have the opportunity to tape the center’s ankles and thumbs for one last time That was a job that O’Pella had done for the past 13 years. So, in a poignant move, Kelce allowed O’Pella to tape his ankles and thumbs one last time for Monday’s retirement announcement.