Eagles

Jason Kelce Says Refs Have Been Warning Him “for Years” About Pre-Snap Ball Movement

By Kyle Pagan

Published: Dec 20th, 2023 · 10:37 AM EST

---

Jason Kelce mentioned after the Seattle game that he’s been warned about moving the ball before the snap for years now, via Victoria Hernandez at USA Today:

“They’ve been warning me of that for years,” Kelce told reporters after the game in Seattle. “I think when you’re trying to get a forward lean and you really do that, I think I had a tendency to do that in the past, so they’ve definitely warned me before. I think that I just got to be smarter. Especially in that situation.”

“I think if that’s a full yard to gain, probably not as much, but I think because it was so short, the fact that I moved it forward at all was gonna get called,” he said. “Just gotta be smarter than that.”

Ticky tack bullshit.

Here’s the play:

This is the false start they called on Jason Kelce … pic.twitter.com/autMKJjjTf

— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) December 19, 2023

Look at where the ball starts and where he places it? What’re we splitting hairs over a foot? A foot and a half?

I mean the play is successful 92% of the time. Jason Kelce could move it back two feet and our QB who squats 600 lbs. would still convert.

In my opinion that is a referee getting a memo from the NFL and looking for any reason to call a penalty on the Brotherly Shove. And that’s with me taking off my Kelly Green-covered glasses. I understand reffing is a tough job and I don’t expect them to be perfect, but is it too much to ask for them to at least be consistent? Every single center moves the ball to gain an advantage. I know Kelce took blame for it, but is it just a coincidence they flag him during the most controversial play of the NFL season? Absolutely not. Did you know it’s also illegal for the center to spin the ball after it’s placed? Well he’s been doing that his entire career too and not once has there ever been a flag. The NFL is so zeroed in on the Brotherly Shove that referees are looking for anything they can do to penalize the Eagles. It’s why they’ve fucked up multiple times this season, confusing Kelce’s arm for Landon Dickerson’s:

Jason Kelce claims the refs were “searching” for a penalty to call against the #Eagles QB sneak when Landon Dickerson got called for “offensive offsides”

“I think they messed [the call] up actually… and that’s the problem when you go looking to make a call.” pic.twitter.com/9w9AL4dPah

— Philadelphia Eagles Central (@pheaglescentral) October 4, 2023

That's the second time this season the refs have called offsides thinking Jason Kelce's hand was Landon Dickerson's pic.twitter.com/tooH3CSPe8

— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) October 23, 2023

Kelce gaining an advantage has been known around the NFL dating back to last year, via Kalyn Kahler at The Athletic (with ads):

At the end of a conversation with the second NFL analytics staffer, he mentioned one last thing: “They move the ball forward,” he said. “Kelce moves it forward like half a yard.”

This wasn’t the first time I’d heard this accusation. Back in Week 9, when the officiating office sent the video to the teams, the first analytics staffer mentioned Kelce’s habit of moving the ball forward in the same sentence as the pushing, linking the two as an evolution of how the Eagles have grown the sneak.

The NFL is just cracking down on it and that’s why we’re seeing calls like this.