Legendary Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce was in the midst of a bizarre interaction on social media in the wake of the Kentucky Derby last weekend.
Kelce made a claim about one of the most controversial health issues surrounding the NFL today in response to a post directed at him on X/Twitter.
Legendary Philadelphia Eagles C Jason Kelce started by claiming The Secretariat was on steroids

The whole interaction that resulted in Jason Kelce making a claim about his health began with Kelce claiming The Secretariat was on steroids.
Kelce said that there was not adequate testing during their time and that there were many recorded uses of steroids dating back to the 60s. The Secretariat’s wins took place in the early 70s.
Just going to put this out there, you know who else has enlarged hearts. People who take copious amounts of steroids. I’ll admit I don’t know whether Secretariat was on steroids or not, it’s impossible to know, because in 1973 when Secretariat won the triple crown there was not… https://t.co/QClbJKSkzD
— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) May 9, 2024
Jason Kelce proceeded to admit to having CTE when someone claimed that as a reason for him making the original post

Following Kelce’s original claim about Secretariat, someone responded to him with the claim that his steroid accusation only occurred due to the fact that Kelce suffered from CTE.
The poster claimed that a symptom of CTE is making completely unfounded claims, just like the one Kelce supposedly made in the initial post.
Just going to put this out there, you know who else makes unsubstantiated claims not backed up by facts. People suffering from CTE. I’ll admit I don’t know whether @JasonKelce suffers from CTE or not, it’s impossible to know… https://t.co/ST32mfjags
— Jay Privman (@jayprivman) May 9, 2024
Kelce then responded saying that the responder is being very reasonable when making the claim that he has CTE. Kelce, who played in the trenches in one of the toughest divisions in the NFL for 13 years, made no effort to claim that the original responder was wrong in saying that he suffered from CTE.
I mean I can virtually guarantee that I have CTE, all the research would suggest I have some degree of it. I think it is entirely reasonable to assume I have some degree of that pathology.
— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) May 9, 2024
A high-profile player like Jason Kelce openly admitting to having CTE does not bode well for the NFL

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, has plagued the NFL for decades now. The NFL, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, have spent a lot of time and effort to try and cover up the effects of CTE.
The NFL is currently trying to find its way out of a lawsuit involving a former football player who killed six people. Former NFL player Phillip Adams killed six people and his family is now suing the NFL. The NFL is currently in the process of trying to get the case moved to federal court. In an article from WCNC, Phillip Adams’ father Alonzo Adams explained why the family was going after the NFL.
“I can say he’s a good kid,” Adams said at the time. “I think the football messed him up.”
The NFL also tried to intimidate scientists who were studying the link between football and brain trauma. Dr. Bennet Omalu broke the NFL’s concussion problem wide open in the early 2000s when studying the brain of “Iron Mike” Webster.
Instead of working with Omalu’s discovery of CTE, the NFL attacked his reputation. They created their own entity (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury or MTBI) to study and publish research about traumatic brain injuries and they used that entity to downplay CTE and concussions.
The MTBI also tried to retract Omalu’s published paper that came to the conclusion that:
“neuropathological changes consistent with long-term repetitive concussive brain injury.”
A high-profile player such as Jason Kelce openly admitting that he likely has CTE does not bode well for the NFL, which has come a long way in the category of player safety since the early 2000s.
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