A man's mellow mountain, Jason Kelse spent most of his life fascinated by aggressive snaps.
Now, a year after his retirement after 13 seasons as a center for the Philadelphia Eagles, Kelse has the space to confuse other issues. Recently, he's been thinking about sweatshirts and t-shirts. And he has an idea. Lots of thoughts.
“On the inside of a sweatshirt, when it feels vague, I don't like it,” Kelse said on a video call from her Philadelphia home in April, just days after her daughter's birth. He wants a “heavy” sweatshirt, and there's a stretchy slip. Durable, “You can wear it on the sofa to work and relax.”
Ah, it needs to be made entirely in the US.
To achieve all this, 37-year-old Kelse took matters into his own hands. Today, his underdog apparel brand is debuting a neat collection of crew neck sweatshirts and t-shirts produced in the US, everything from cotton to finished clothing. These items are produced in collaboration with American Giant, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2012, fully manufactured in the United States.
The weak pocket t-shirt and French Terry sweatshirt, produced by the American giant, will be sold for $45 and $79 respectively, and will be sold on the weak website. They are on the Barier side of Mr. Kelse's specifications. During the interview he wore a green pocket T-shirt and his abundant biceps gently squeezed into his sleeves.
“I don't want anyone to mad. I didn't understand why someone wanted to wear Gucci or some of these high-end brands,” Kelse said. “I never appealed to me.”
Even if he had to groan into his suit when he appeared as an analyst for ESPN's “Monday Night Countdown,” he added, “I would like to wear something that symbolizes blue-collar workers, as opposed to suits.”
That this underdog clothing is made entirely in the United States is the most satisfying part for Kelse.
“I grew up going to the steelworks with my dad,” he said of his childhood in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. “So the notion that American workers make things was something that was ingrained in the air, and I was always drawn to it.”
Mr. Kelse has been plotting for life for a long time after his final snap. In 2022, he started a “New Heights” podcast with his brother. He remains in the top 200 Apple's top podcasts, but now runs behind his wife Kylie's show, “Not Gonna Lie.”
While many retired athletes pour money into car dealers and restaurant ventures, Kelse became interested in clothing.
“I was trying to come up with a way to celebrate Philadelphia,” said Kelse, who is nothing if not an informal ambassador for the adopted city. “And I love wearing a shirt that represents me and everything I believe in.”
He began the underdog in 2022 as an apparel brand with a vigorous nod to Philadelphia. Past graphics feature his Eagles teammates, whose name hints at the Eagles, who labeled themselves as underdogs on their way to win the Super Bowl in 2018. This is a unique suggestion from a former athlete, and many others outside the Eagles fandom that flew under the radar. The underdogs don't have the technical edge of Tom Brady's smooth, fitness-centric Brady brand. It leaps more towards Kelce's hilarious, cheerful profile, his jumbo-sized profile than his field prowess.
The label tried to produce it in the US in advance, but Kelse quickly learned it, even if the tag was made here, and even if “the majority of it might be made overseas.” Clothes marked “Made in the United States” can be produced from cotton or other ingredients derived from other locations.
In the American giant, the weak have found a partner that can produce entire clothing, including fabric, here in the United States. The cotton was harvested and finished in the southeastern parts of North Carolina. The clothing itself was produced in Los Angeles.
“These fabrics were custom designed for Jason,” said Bayard Winthrop, CEO of the American giant, who emphasized that the original Bowler had “a lot of small opinions” about how the shirt and sweat fit.
“The shirts have a truly brave and sturdy quality,” Winthrop said. “They drape in a certain way. They don't cling to their bodies. They're not overly sensitive.”
Last year, Kelse traveled to North and South Carolina with Winthrop to North Carolina, looking firsthand the production process and thinking about how clothes look at it. Since most apparel production is exported overseas, only 2% of the clothing purchased by Americans are manufactured domestically.
“The eye-opening part for me was how truly decentralized this was, how many people only touch one T-shirt, and how many steps there are in the process,” Kelse said. “I had never really thought about it.”
The project has been in work for about two years, but it will debut in an auspicious moment as Americans consider what they are sacrificing macros and microeconomically to revive American manufacturing. Hours before the interview, President Trump pulled back a sudden tariff that has destabilized the global economic situation, despite a tough trade war with China.
“I have no problems with world trade,” Kelse said. He said he's not going to stop buying shirts and clothes that aren't completely made here.
“I don't think there's any statement that's going to be made other than 'hears and there's a really great reason to support American businesses and local businesses in our country,” he said.
Given Kelse's long-standing romantic relationship with Philadelphia, it may hit strange shoppers that the underdog line is not produced there. It was debated, but the reality is that Philadelphia, like many cities once a hub in production, was “stopping” when it came to apparel production, Philadelphia said.
“Philadelphia doesn't have the ability to dye, finish or knit scales,” he said. Kelse said in the future the company will find ways to incorporate the city into its brand. His partner, Stephen Porter, pointed out that any screens of underdogs were printed or embroidered were done locally.
The line may not be made in Philadelphia, but his green shirt proved that Mr. Kelse knew he had to make his fans happy.
“Philadelphia has made greenery popular,” he said. “If it wasn't for the green shirt, it would have felt like cheating.”
