Jason Kelce went viral over the weekend when he was heckled in public by someone using a homophobic slur directed at Kelce’s brother, Travis Kelce. Jason responded by smashing the person’s phone while using the slur himself. Jason seemed torn up about the situation on Monday Night Football, and now, Travis has urged his brother not to be so hard on himself.
In the viral footage, Jason, 37, is at the Penn State game against Ohio State on Saturday when a bystander uses the f-slur directed at Jason’s brother for dating Taylor Swift. The retired Eagles center then grabbed the man’s phone and smashed it into the ground, repeating the slur at the person. The Athletic has reported that Penn State University Police are investigating the matter.
“You don’t choose hate. That’s not who you are.”
On Wednesday’s Kelce brothers’ New Heights podcast, Travis, a Kansas City tight end, praised his brother’s Monday Night Football apology, calling him a “sincere” sibling who was working to “own” and “learn” from the experience. Travis, 35, added, “I know it’s weighing on you, brother. That s**t sucks. You shouldn’t feel this much … Everybody passing around the videos is gonna make it a bigger situation than what it really is. You don’t choose hate. That’s not who you are.” According to Jason, what he regretted most was repeating the slur, but he was ready to move and ready to “stop talking about the really stupid situation.”
“I chose to greet hate with hate”
In his Monday Night Football pregame show remarks, Jason said he wasn’t proud of what happened. In a “heated moment,” he added, “I chose to greet hate with hate, and I don’t think that’s a productive thing,” he said. “I really don’t. I don’t think it leads to discourse and [don’t think] it’s the right way to go about things. In that moment, I fell down to a level that I shouldn’t have.”
Jason also said he tries to live life by the “golden rule.” He said, “That’s what I’ve always been taught. I try to treat people with common decency, respect and I’m going to keep doing that moving forward even though I fell short this week.”
Insofar as social media comments are any indication, the public seems to be on Jason’s side, insisting he did nothing wrong by defending his family and brother. “I stand with Kelce,” one comment said.
Meanwhile, ESPN declined to comment on the confrontation, but social media response seemed to think the network forced Jason to apologize. “He didn’t do anything wrong, he stood up for his brother,” one comment said. “True but it’s still classy to own up to losing your cool,” another responded.
Taylor and Travis have dated since last summer, and so far, Swift has not publically commented on Jason’s altercation. They were spotted, however, hugging at the Monday Night Football Game in Kansas City.
In his Wednesday podcast remarks, Jason added he wanted to “throw that s**t back in [the heckler’s] face because ‘f**k him.'” Jason said the situation would have “been a nothingburger” if he had just kept walking. But now, “there’s a video out there with him saying that word, and it’s not good for anybody,” he added.
Published: Nov 6, 2024 01:36 pm