Even Jason Kelce Can't Avoid the Online Realities of an Ugly Loss

It goes without saying that being a professional athlete is a pretty sweet gig. Beyond the fact that playing a children's game for a living is rather cool, there's also the matter of fame and fortune. Consider Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce as an example of that.

The lineman has made millions of dollars in the NFL, but he's also cultivated a notably good reputation. He's a more-than-capable player with a Super Bowl ring to his name, but Kelce also is a musical sensation and part of a dynamic podcasting duo.

At this point in time, he's pretty untouchable.

Well, as long as things go right on the field. Because, as we saw on Sunday night, professional sports are truly a "What have you done for me lately?" business.

Kelce's Response to Another Loss Wasn't Popular

When listening to a postgame press conference, it's easy to feel like you're being fed nothing but cliches. Sometimes, though, those sentiments are genuine ways to sum up the current situation.

After the Eagles' Week 13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Kelce owned up to his team's shortcomings.

"We're not good enough right now," he said, according to ESPN's Tim McManus. "Obviously, disappointed in the way we performed, didn't get it done today. But we've still got some games left, a lot of football to learn from. I still have the utmost confidence in everybody in this locker room on both sides of the ball. This game doesn't do anything to sway that."

A week later, he found himself sharing a similar sentiment.

Again, that's a fairly generic statement and, if anything, many fans would probably prefer that sort of response over a list of excuses. But an ugly divisional loss doesn't provide much room for postgame praise. No matter how popular you are, pro sports are a results-based business.

Even Kelce Isn't Immune to the Reality of Sports

As we touched on above, Kelce is pretty well positioned within the Philadelphia sports scene. He's a veteran who grew from an unheralded draft pick into a part of one of the Eagles' biggest triumphs. The club's own website even wrote that the center "is, without question, one of the most beloved Philadelphia athletes ever."

And, again, the positives don't stop there. Kelce is generally popular, and, thanks to the power of Taylor Swift, his profile has never been higher. New Heights is a hit, his charity Christmas album soared up the charts, and he even entered the "sexiest man" conversation.

But that isn't what he's paid to do (it all helps his bottom line, though). Ultimately the center is on the Eagles roster to help them win football games, and that didn't happen on Sunday night.

Could you assert that Philly are still sitting in a rather good spot at 10-3? Can you say that Kelce isn't the biggest problem (that dubious honor would probably go to the club's pass defense)?

Sure, but sports fandom we're talking about. And no matter how much success you have on and off the field, critics are always going to be lurking around the corner. Even if they're not representative of the fan base at large, it still comes with the territory.

Previous wins, general popularity or podcasting success don't matter when you lost by 20 points to a hated division rival.

But, ultimately, that's the reality of being a professional athlete. Even if you want to argue that it's well worth it to earn millions of dollars, suffering the social media slings and arrows in defeat is simply part of the job.

Even for someone who's rapidly transcending sports and bleeding into popular culture like Jason Kelce.