For all the talk of Tom Brady’s TV debut in 2024, few pro athletes have made the transition off the field and into the pop-culture landscape more effectively than Jason Kelce, whose unique professional and personal alchemy includes: notable on-field success, including All-Pro honors, a Super Bowl title in Philadelphia and a role as a lead performer of the Eagles’ “Tush Push”; off-field media stardom as a co-host, with brother Travis, of the wildly popular “New Heights” podcast; and commercial ubiquity (Buffalo Wild Wings and Campbell’s Chunky Soup, among others).

That led to a multiyear deal with ESPN, including participating on “Monday Night Countdown” and, as of 1 a.m. ET on Saturday morning, a new role as late-night talk show host — arguably one of the the most challenging jobs in TV.

Taped in front of a live audience at Philadelphia’s Union Transfer, “They Call It Late Night With Jason Kelce” was the first of a four-week “pop-up” experiment in sports TV leading up to the Super Bowl, and the results were a not-unexpected mix of raucous, ragged and relatable.

Here are key takeaways from the show’s debut:

Kelce’s bearded, beer-swilling “everyman” vibe is at the heart of his charm

And the show leaned right into that. Kelce wore a letterman’s jacket and T-shirt, with jeans and work boots.

He set a tone quickly, asking his audience: “How did we get here?” Actually, his very first words were “Holy s—.” The late-night license to curse was used liberally but not particularly gratuitously (the s-word went unbleeped, the f-word was bleeped).

From the show’s name, logo and intro to its retro-fun set to a few of its bits, there was a running homage to the best of NFL Films. “They Call It Pro Football” was one of NFL Films’ earliest projects, and the appreciation Kelce has for NFL history popped, from a warm studio cameo and toast with Hall of Fame Eagles receiver Harold Carmichael to Kelce’s awe for framed photos of the NFL’s most famous “mangled hands” hanging in the studio.

First pics of Jason Kelce’s new show ‘They Call It Late Night’

📸: @ESPNPR pic.twitter.com/PPKD0lZ2qN

— Kelce Brothers (@kelcebrothers) January 4, 2025

Kelce’s opening monologue gets graded on a curve

That’s because the late-night host monologue in front of an audience is among the most challenging work in all of TV — let alone by someone with limited hosting experience. The audience was friendly and forgiving of the occasional faltering riff, if not laughing their heads off. The bits involving actors — like a segment where Kelce met himself as a 14-year-old and as an older person — were more cringe than comedy.

The second segment shined

The show was at its best in the second segment, when Kelce brought out a roundtable of guests: the rapper and actor Dave “Lil Dicky” Burd, the NFL TV analyst Brian Baldinger and — in an impressive flex by Kelce and ESPN — Charles Barkley.

Their roundtable conversation felt like listening to a podcast in all the right ways — casual and conversational. From his experience co-hosting “New Heights,” Kelce seemed so much more comfortable as a moderator than solo star.

They covered some good “newsy” topics — the Eagles sitting Saquon Barkley before he could try to set the NFL single-season rushing record (Charles Barkley: “I’m glad he’s not playing.”), players’ mindset heading into Week 18 and Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell. Giving four professional talkers a classic sports-talk framework was a great idea.

The show could use a tighter run time

As the show got deeper into its hour-long run-time, the conceits and viewer experience got demonstrably more strained: A segment where the four panelists were tasked with doing their best impressions of legendary NFL Films voice (and Philly native) John Facenda was derailed by the panelists being totally unprepared to read their cue cards and the content of the cards being clunky and corny. (Burd: “I don’t know what I just read.”)

A final segment featuring four super-fans in a beer-chugging contest felt tacked on and featured the fastest chugger being disqualified for not ending by flipping his mug onto his head as instructed. (Watching it was even more raggedy than describing it.)

The show could — and would — benefit from a tighter run-time (30 minutes makes sense), which would allow it to really zero in on Kelce as an expert moderator of an interesting panel of guests.

The show needs more Kylie

One area where the show should not skimp going forward: Air-time for Kelce’s wife, Kylie, who sits at a table  in the wings (“Kylie’s Korner”) and acts as lead voiceover, lamentably used only sparingly in the debut.

Kylie — who recently displaced Joe Rogan as the most popular podcast host on Spotify — is way too talented (and way too big of a star in her own right) to have such a minimal, marginal role. The show would benefit from way more Kylie, and it could easily replace the final two blocks with the couple bantering about topics together — or adding Kylie to the roundtable.

Kylie Kelce is an announcer for “They Call it Late Night with Jason Kelce” ❤️ @latenightwithjk | @JasonKelce pic.twitter.com/QnibuiP3eL

— espnW (@espnW) January 4, 2025

I have a lot of empathy and appreciation for a production team trying something new, and debut episodes are the moment all your fun ideas in the writers’ room meet reality.

In this case, they don’t need the canned bits and actors — they have Kelce, in all his authenticity and talent for holding a conversation; they have Kylie; they have ESPN’s convening power to get big names like Barkley; they have a friendly Philly crowd and a welcoming studio set-up — and they should double down on letting Kelce do what he is best at.

Required reading

(Photo: Andy Lewis / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)