Bearcats will have football royalty at home opener vs. Boston College

The Cincinnati Bearcats will have some VIP guests at their season opener as former UC greats Jason Kelce, Connor Barwin and Brent Celek will all be in attendance for the Boston College game Sept. 5.

Jason Kelce announced this on a recent episode of his New Heights podcast with his brother and former Bearcat, Travis Kelce.

NEW NEWWWWSSS

Jason Kelce, Connor Barwin and Brent Celek will be back in Cincy on Saturday!

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— Cincinnati Football (@GoBearcatsFB) September 2, 2026

Jason Kelce, Barwin and Celek are all former Philadelphia Eagles with Kelce and Celek being part of the Super Bowl LII championship team. Barwin is an Eagles executive now and Celek assists in personnel, with both being part of Philadelphia’s Super Bowl LIX championship.

Jason Kelce will be inducted into the James P. Kelly UC Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 23, the night before the UC/Texas Tech game at Nippert Stadium. Barwin will be inducted on the same night along with former UC basketball coach Bob Huggins.

Barwin never played for Huggins, but did play for Andy Kennedy and Mick Cronin before moving on to the NFL for his football talents.

Kelce was twice a Second Team All-Big East performer at center for Brian Kelly’s Bearcats. He went from a walk-on to a sixth-round NFL draft pick by the Eagles. With Philadelphia, he was part of their Super Bowl LII team and was a six-time First Team Pro Bowl selection.

Barwin came to UC as a tight end for Mark Dantonio and finished as a defensive lineman for Brian Kelly. At tight end, he caught 53 passes for 692 yards and six touchdowns, including 31 receptions his junior year. His senior year he switched to defense and had 27 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks.

Barwin was a second-round pick of the Houston Texans and also played with the Eagles, Rams and Giants. Now, the head of football development with Philadelphia, he was part of the organization’s Super Bowl 59 win.

Celek was a tight end for Mark Dantonio from La Salle High School, who was part of UC’s famous 30-11 upset of then-No. 7 Rutgers, which catapulted the Bearcats into the limelight. Celek’s 83-yard touchdown from Nick Davila put UC out big 27-3 late in the third quarter.

Celek caught 91 passes at UC for 1,135 yards and 14 touchdowns. In his senior season of 2006, he had 35 catches for 481 yards and was a fifth-round choice of the Eagles in the 2007 NFL Draft.

Celek had 398 receptions for 4,998 yards and 31 scores during his NFL career from 2007 to 2017.

The Cincinnati Bearcats kick off at 3:30 p.m. vs. Boston College on Fox Sports and 102.7 WEBN.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bearcats will have football royalty at home opener vs. Boston College