Phillies get motivation from Jason Kelce, best speaker in Eagles history
By John Town
The Phillies got a visit from Eagles center Jason Kelce to help motivate them for the upcoming season, encouraging them to “be bold” this year.
To label the Phillies as underdogs this season would be an understatement. Their odds to win the World Series this year are 80 to 1, which are tied for 21st-worst. Despite that, manager Gabe Kapler is still expecting his team to find success this year. To help motivate his team, Kapler brought in the man that delivered one of the greatest motivational speeches in Philadelphia sports.
Eagles center Jason Kelce was in Clearwater Monday as the full team reported for workouts. He stood out – both figuratively and literally – in the clubhouse and on the field.
Kelce gave a Phillies-themed version of his Super Bowl parade speech, centered on Kapler’s notion of being “bold” this year. A full transcript isn’t available, but Kelce made sure to bring up the criticisms facing the team this year.
Unfortunately, Kelce did not bring his mummer suit to make the speech. However, he said used even more curse words than he did in his parade speech, which was apparently possible.
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As with most rebuilding teams, there are certainly going to be criticisms of various players. Some of team’s young players have definitely received lots of criticism. Kelce made it a point to bring up those criticisms to their face, hoping to motivate them this year. He said he can see a lot of similarities between the Eagles and Phils.
Kelce was not the only one Kapler asked to help motivate the team. Stephanie Sigafoos of the Morning Call wrote that fellow Eagles Carson Wentz and Doug Pederson, Ben Simmons of the Sixers, Claude Giroux of the Flyers, and Justin Timberlake all submitted video messages to the team.
Next: Phillies 2018 Season Preview: Vince Velasquez
If the Phils can somehow follow in the Eagles’ footsteps this year, adopting the underdog mantra couldn’t hurt. If they do win it all, who will wear the red mummer suit?