Jason Kelce said the quiet part out loud about his ESPN betting advice for Vikings-Rams

When you watch a professional sports figure like Jason Kelce dispense betting advice, your assumption is that what Kelce is saying is actually an opinion he's carefully considered before sharing it with millions of people.

And because it's someone like Kelce -- a future Hall of Fame center -- his opinion on football betting should probably carry more weight than thoughts from your Average Joe or Jill. That, in turn, should make prospective bettors on the fence more confident about a possible betting outcome because someone as reputable as Kelce thinks it.

At least, that's what ESPN Bet might want people to think.

You see, Kelce may have inadvertently given part of the betting game away before Monday night's NFC Wild Card game between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings. As ESPN's Scott Van Pelt directed an ESPN Bet segment setting props for various notable Rams and Vikings players, it was Kelce's job to set the table for the number of Matthew Stafford touchdowns.

Kelce said he saw "two-plus" for the Rams' star quarterback "because they told me to."

Oh. Oh, no, Jason. You're not supposed to say the quiet part out loud!

In a moment of levity for the crew, Van Pelt and Kelce would try to walk the moment back. Kelce explained that he simply "doesn't like picking touchdowns." Fellow former player analyst Ryan Clark eventually jumped in, saying he foresaw a big game for Los Angeles running back Kyren Williams and "not because anyone told me to."

Sorry, fellas, but the damage is done. The can of worms? Opened.

It's, of course, impossible to tell whether Kelce was unequivocally serious about getting his betting advice cue from someone behind the scenes. He could have been joking, and all of this is moot.

But to even suggest it as unenthusiastically as Kelce did in front of a national television audience is a disaster. The door is now open for this kind of discussion. It calls into question the ethics of a platform like ESPN Bet and how it's trying to grow by potentially manipulating people. That, in effect, becomes a question other betting platforms might have to answer themselves.

Because if someone like Kelce isn't really thinking too hard about his betting advice. If someone else is really telling him what to say instead, then this whole idea starts to fall apart like a house of cards.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Jason Kelce said the quiet part out loud about his ESPN betting advice for Vikings-Rams