Jason Kelce has been keeping himself busy off the football pitch, as he is looking to immerse himself in the video game industry soon.
The Philadelphia Eagles Center revealed his plan to buy the classic “Backyard Sports” video game franchise to his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, during the latest episode of the New Heights podcast on Wednesday.
“I don’t even know if I want to mention this because I’ve been secretly been looking into seeing if anyone holds the rights to ‘Backyard Football’ and ‘Backyard Baseball’ because I want to buy it and get this thing going again,” said Kelce. “That was the best game ever. It was so electric.”
“Imagine playing ‘Backyard Football’ right now on your phone because you could do that whole thing on your phone. It wasn’t that complicated of a game. I love that game,” continued Kelce.
Why does Jason Kelce love “Backyard Football”?
Jason Kelce was born on November 5, 1987, so he got to play the “Backyard” sports video game series (baseball, basketball, hockey, skateboarding, and soccer). The first installment of the “Backyard Football” game was released in 1999 on Microsoft Windows and Macintosh.
“Backyard Football” was a fun way of introducing the NFL to the kids back then, given its colorful and 3D cartoon graphics. There were three modes in this game: single game, season mode, and online play.
Three-time Super Bowl champion Steve Young was once on the cover, and other notable NFL players include Barry Sanders (Detroit Lions), Brett Favre (Green Bay Packers), Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins), Drew Bledsoe (New England Patriots), John Elway (Denver Broncos), Randall Cunningham (Minnesota Vikings), and Jerry Rice (San Francisco 49ers).
Humongous Entertainment was the developer of the “Backyard” sports video game series, with Atari being its parent company. In 2013, Atari sold the rights to Humongous Entertainment to Tommo.
With more than $81 million in career earnings, as per Spotrac, Jason Kelce can afford to revive the “Backyard Sports” video game franchise and bring back the nostalgia if he wants to.
What’s next for Jason Kelce?
After spending his entire 13-year career in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, Jason Kelce was reportedly set to retire after they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round.
However, the seven-time Pro Bowler has yet to make his retirement official. Either way, Jason Kelce said that he wants to remain involved with the Eagles in the long run.