Eagles' Kelce to 76ers' Ben Simmons: 'Just play better, man'

According to Tim McManus of ESPN, long-time Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce had some words for Simmons while speaking with reporters Thursday. 

"I tell guys, you write your own narrative. I don't want to crush any other players, but what's going on with the 76ers, Ben Simmons, stuff like that, all of that is because of a lack of accountability, a lack of owning up to mistakes and a lack of correcting things," Kelce explained. "If all that got corrected, if you're fixing free throws, if you're getting better as a player, none of this is happening. So everybody can b---- and complain about how tough this city is to play in. Just play better, man. This city will love you." 

Kelce first joined the Eagles via the 2011 NFL Draft, has played only for the organization since, and earned a Super Bowl ring with Philadelphia. 

"There's a lot of people that say it's a hard place to play. I think it's pretty f---ing easy, to be honest with you," Kelce added about competing for a team that calls the City of Brotherly Love home. "You just go out there and play hard. You want to be loved in this city as a baseball player? Run to first base. They're going to f---ing love you. That's what it comes down to. If you come up here and make a bunch of excuses, you come up here and try to lie to them and act like they don't know what they're talking about -- which sometimes they don't -- when you act that way or you aren't accountable, you're making mistakes or you're not getting better, they're going to crush you.

"Everybody's going to get crushed at some point, everybody is going to go through a downturn and be struggling, and at all times this city is going to keep you accountable for doing your job and performing. But if you stick to it and you fight through it and you get better, they'll respect the hell out of you. Even if you're struggling and you're fighting and you're trying, they're still going to respect you. That's what I think most guys miss. I really don't think this is a hard place to play at all. I think a hard place to play is ... I think it would be miserable to play in a place like Jacksonville, where nobody cares." 

What Kelce may be forgetting, however, is that there's currently zero indication Simmons cares about appealing to local fans. The Athletic's Shams Charania and Rich Hofmann reported earlier this week Simmons "has mentally checked out of Philadelphia" amid his desire to start fresh elsewhere.