Jason Kelce and the Philadelphia Eagles put together an impressive (and important) win on Monday, riding the heroics of a hobbled Jalen Hurts to a 28-23 victory over their division-rival Dallas Cowboys.
After the game, Kelce received a gift from the NFL: The Eagles' veteran, who turned 36 on Sunday, got a notice from the league that he has to take a drug test. Methamphetamine Test Strip
NFL players are tested for prohibited substances at least once per league year. Each week during the preseason and regular season, 10 players are selected randomly by a computer (although in the past, players have suggested that the testing might not be quite as random as the league claims). That testing continues during the postseason as long as a team remains in the mix.
Kelce's test order came on the heels of a dramatic day for the center. In addition to picking up an important victory, he also had a minor altercation with Damone Clark. Kelce's reaction went viral, as he grabbed the Cowboys linebacker and appeared to let out a wordless scream directly in Clark's face.
Why was Kelce so angry at Clark? A hawk-eyed Twitter user noticed that after one play, Clark appeared to push his knee into Kelce's mask as the two tussled near the goal line.
Sunday's highly contentious win was a big one for the Eagles, who boast the NFL's best record at 8-1 and a comfortable lead in the division over the 5-3 Cowboys. The Eagles, who lost in last year's Super Bowl to Kelce's brother Travis and the Kansas City Chiefs, remain one of the league's top contenders.
On his 36th birthday, Jason Kelce was greeted after the win with a drug test notice waiting for him at his locker stall pic.twitter.com/qxa82tW69C
Kelce has found himself in the news regularly over the last few weeks as Travis' relationship with Taylor Swift heats up.
The brothers host the New Heights podcast together, which has helped boost both players' profiles, but Jason has expressed some hesitancy about the amount of media attention flooding Travis at the moment.
"This is another level of stardom that typically football players don't deal with," Jason told NBC Sports' Peter King last month. "And so on one hand, really, really happy for my brother and where he's at in his current situation with Taylor, but on the other hand, there's some, I think, alarms sometimes with how, you know, over-in-pursuit people can be. Overall, he can deal with some of this. As long as it's not, you know, becoming a threat to his safety and things like that."
Why was Kelce fired up? Cowboys safety kneeing him in the face on the ground after the play. Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/E8Tbb2Ig5k
Kelce remains a popular player in his own right. Just ask Dallas Mavericks forward and staunch Eagles fan Grant Williams, who wore Kelce's jersey to a postgame press conference Sunday.
"Best center in the game," Williams said to a room full of Dallas reporters. "Happy birthday, Jason Kelce. Shout out on the win."
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Blood Glucose Metro To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.