Ed and Donna Kelce are the proud parents of not one, but two NFL stars.
After a combined 22 years of playing in the NFL, brothers Jason and Travis Kelce reached a football milestone no other brotherly duo has been able to accomplish: they were the first brothers to ever square off at the Super Bowl — meaning their parents, Ed and Donna, not only attended the big game, but they were also rooting for both teams.
Super Bowl LVII saw the Philadelphia Eagles face off against the Kansas City Chiefs. Of course, football fans followed Ed and Donna’s leadup to the 2023 Super Bowl with a diligent eye. Donna, for her part, made sure to show her sons equal support when dressing for the big game. For her “#gamedayfit,” the proud mom wore a shirt that split into Eagles and Chiefs colors on each side.
Ultimately, the Chiefs ended up defeating the Eagles 38-35, making Travis the victorious brother of the aptly nicknamed “Kelce Bowl.” While Travis celebrated on the winner’s platform alongside Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, Jason was seen getting emotional after reuniting with his mom on the field after the loss.
The Kelce family’s wild ride didn’t stop after the Super Bowl, however. The rest of the year saw Jason and Travis skyrocket to new levels of fame — especially after Travis started dating Taylor Swift in September. Months later, after much speculation, Jason announced his retirement from the NFL in March 2024. Through it all, Donna and Ed were right by their sons’ sides.
“It’s been really surreal and it’s been a fun ride to be on,” Donna told PEOPLE in January 2024. “Being able to be with the kids more than I have in any other year previously.”
Just one year after the Kelce Bowl, Travis returned to the Super Bowl to face off against the San Francisco 49ers. Donna and Ed were in attendance to cheer on the tight end alongside Swift, and celebrated with him on the field after the Chiefs ultimately defeated the 49ers in overtime.
Ahead of the big game, Donna told PEOPLE she was looking forward to a more relaxing experience in 2024 after watching her sons compete against each other the year prior.
“This year I’m going to take a step back to enjoy it,” she said. “I get to enjoy it this time.”
From their rom-com-worthy meet-cute to navigating life with two sons in the NFL, here’s everything to know about Ed and Donna Kelce.
Donna grew up outside of Cleveland
Donna was born and raised in Cleveland. Her mother died when she was just 12 years old, shortly after the family — including her father and younger brother Don — had just moved out of Cleveland and to the suburbs. After her mother died, her father married a woman named Mary, whom Donna described as a “wonderful human being.” Looking back on her childhood, Donna credits her stepmother — also known as Grandma Murr by the Kelce brothers — for getting her and Don back on track.
“By the grace of God, if we didn’t have [Mary] I don’t think we would have made it,” she said during an appearance on her sons’ joint podcast, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce.
While Donna’s father was against women playing sports, her stepmother was all in. During her high school years, Donna secretly — but with her stepmother’s support and guidance – competed at the Junior Olympics in track and field and won.
“She’s just a lovely lady,” Donna told her sons of Grandma Murr, who died in 2023. “I feel so fortunate that I was raised by her.”
With her stepmother’s continued support, Donna became the first in her family to graduate college. After earning her degree from Ohio University, she pursued a 30-year career in banking. She worked for Mastercard before settling down with a local bank in Cleveland, where she specialized in commercial real estate finances.
Ed’s family has a big military background
Ed also grew up in Cleveland and, like his sons, was immediately attracted to the sport of football in high school. He gave college a try; however, coming from a family with a large military presence, Ed felt called to serve his country. “Everybody in my family prior to me was in the service,” Ed told his sons on New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. “We’re also talking about family [that] lived through World War II, so that’s what everybody did because that was the background.”
Unfortunately, the Army rejected his application due to a pre-existing knee injury. Ed did, however, go on to enlist for the Coast Guard. Albeit, his dreams were cut short during boot camp when he learned he had Crohn’s disease. Ed pivoted and went on to have a very successful career in the steel industry, occasionally bringing his sons to work with them so they could get an understanding of what work in a mill was like.
“I’d take them there — hard hat, safety glasses, boots, the whole nine yards,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “I’d tell them, ‘You can have a job like your mother’s, or you can have a job like mine.’ ”
Donna first met Ed while on her way to another date
For Donna and Ed, it was love at first sight. While sharing their love story on New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, it was revealed that the couple met right before Donna was meant to go on another date. On her way to the date, Donna stopped by a bar named Fagan’s in Old Cleveland Flats, where Ed also happened to swing by for an after-work drink. The two got to talking and Donna never went to meet the other guy.
“I was supposed to go out with a guy that night. We were supposed to go to a play, and I never made it. Your dad and I talked forever,” Donna told her sons, adding jokingly, “It was a good play, too! I really wanted to see it.”
For his part, Ed is still shocked he won over Donna as he was covered in dirt from head to toe after working at the steel lab all day. “I’m in coveralls that are covered in cement,” Ed continued the story. “We started talking and she gave me a ride home. She came in and I told her ‘hold on, let me change.’ ”
Not wanting the night to end, Ed recalled taking a quick shower and taking Donna to another nearby bar. “It was meant to be. It’s just the way it was,” Donna quipped.
They were married for nearly 25 years
Donna and Ed tied the knot in the late ’70s, about five years before welcoming their older son Jason. Less than two years later, they became a family of four with the addition of Travis. Together, they raised their family in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and sent their sons to the University of Cincinnati, where they both played college football.
After roughly 25 years of marriage, the pair went their separate ways following both their sons’ college graduations. While the divorce presented a hardship for the Kelce family, Donna looks back on her marriage to Ed fondly. On New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, Donna assured both Jason and Travis that she has no ill will toward their father and considers him a very important person in her life.
“I don’t hate him. We’re friends to this day. We get along great,” Donna said on the podcast. “We were like a tag team with you two. We got to do all sorts of fun things. When one of you had to go out of town, the other person would help with the other child. It was perfect.”
However, as Donna explained, “sometimes people move apart.” When asked by her sons if she regrets marrying Ed, Donna responded, “No, never, because I got you two.”
In the 2023 documentary, Kelce, Donna and Ed talked about choosing to stay together for as long as they did for the benefit of their boys.
“If we had split as we probably both would have preferred, that would have been a nightmare with the logistics, getting kids where they had to be and providing all the support,” Ed explains in the film.
“Just trying to keep it all together when you’re being a parent,” Donna adds. “It’s tough.”
