Jason Kelce rants about uselessness of playbook: ‘I’ve not looked at a playbook in years’

The playbook is how the teams get on the same page of what to run next and is a useful tool when it comes to situational football. Right now, rookies and players joining new teams are busy studying their squad’s plays, but one former Super Bowl champion says the playbook is not all it’s cracked up to be.

Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce can finally openly rant about his distain for playbooks now that he is retired from the league. He explained how his rookie year in the NFL went, saying because it was the lockout season in 2011, he didn’t receive the playbook until training camp. 

He downplayed the need for the rundown of plays on the “New Heights” podcast he has with his younger brother, three-time Super Bowl champion, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

“I went in completely not knowing what was happening. It’s amazing how fast you can learn this stuff,” Jason said.

He added that he preferred the physical playbook and by the time the team went to digital form, he “never looked at the playbook one time.”

“When’s the last time you actually looked?” Travis asked Jason. “I’ve not looked at a playbook in years.”

Travis has a little more respect for the all-mighty book of plays, noting that new ones come up every year and he needs to keep revisiting things. When Jason said Travis is not learning anything new because the tight end has had consistency in coaches, the younger brother rebutted, emphatically responding with, “Yes, we are!”

The defending Super Bowl champion said Chiefs head coach Andy Reid always has new notecards and this year they already have “like 100 new plays.”

Jason did acknowledge the difference in their positions and how that impacts the need for the playbook.

“It’s different in the pass game. In the run game we’ve got like four or five new concepts a year,” Jason said.

He went on to complain about the same plays being downloaded year after year, specifically expressing his frustration with hearing “inside zone installed thousands of times.” As a member of the offensive line, he says it is less about looking back at the exact definition of plays and more knowing which opposing player you need to take down.

“Nobody in their right mind goes out there ‘play side gap comma number two.’ No! The center and the guard are going there, I got this motherf—–,” the former Eagle said.

Laughing, Travis said he hopes this is giving all the rookies out there confidence that learning the playbook is “not that hard.”

In a final message to these rookies, Jason simply said, “It’ll be fine.”