Jason Kelce 'Regrets' Reacting to Football Fan Who Called Brother Travis Homophobic Slur: 'Got Under My Skin'

Mar. 15, 2025

Jason Kelce.Photo:David Eulitt/Getty

Jason Kelce works as a broadcaster on Monday Night Football prior to the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints

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Jason Kelceis speaking out about the moment hesmashed a Penn State football fan’s phonefor calling his brother,Travis Kelce, a homophobic slur.

In now-viral footageshared on X(formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Nov. 2, theretired Philadelphia Eagles star, 37 — who was outside of Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., for the Penn State-Ohio State game — reacted after the man called Travis “a f—– datingTaylor Swift.”

On the latest episode of the brothers’New Heightspodcast which aired on Wednesday, Nov. 6, Jason expressed regret at also saying the word after he was seen standing in front of the man and saying, “Who’s the f—– now?” in the viral clips.

Travis began on the podcast, “I know you wanted to clear some of the air, so go ahead,” as Jason responded, “I’m just gonna address it, I feel like it needs one more time and then hopefully we can stop talking about this really stupid situation.”

Jason and Travis Kelce.David Calvert/Getty

Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce during the ACC Celebrity Golf Championship presented by American Century Investments at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course

David Calvert/Getty

The father of three — who first addressed the incident on Nov. 4on ESPN’sMonday Night Countdown— added, “I’m not happy about the situation, me reacting gave him the time of day and it also gave the situation notoriety. That’s what I regret. It didn’t deserve attention, it’s really stupid… if I just keep walking, it’s a f—— nothingburger, nobody sees it. Now, it’s out there and it just perpetuates more hate.”

Jason insisted the “thing that I regret the most is saying that word to be honest with you… the word he used it’s just f—— ridiculous and it takes it to another level. It’s just off the wall, f—— over the line.”

“It’s dehumanizing and it got under my skin, it elicited a reaction. In the heat of the moment, I thought ‘Hey, what can I say back to him? I’m going to throw this s— right back in his face. F— him,’ " the athlete said, admitting he knows now that he “shouldn’t have done that.”

Jason and Travis Kelce.Ryan Kang/Getty

Jason Kelce #62 of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs embrace after an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs

Ryan Kang/Getty

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Travis had nothing but praise for his brother, insisting people “passing around the videos” made for a “bigger situation than I think what it really is.”

“The real situation is you had some f—— clown come up to you and talk about your family and you reacted in a way that was defending your family, and you might’ve used some words that you regret using,” theKansas City Chiefstight end continued. “That’s a situation you’ve just got to learn from and own. I think you owning it and you speaking about it shows how sincere you are to a lot of people in this world.”

“You don’t choose hate, that’s just not who you are,” Travis added. “I love you brother, I think you said that perfectly.”

PEOPLE reached out to representatives for both Jason and ESPN at the time, but didn’t immediately receive a response.

source: people.com