In case you’re not a devoted NFL fan, let’s go through a quick recap on the Kelce family. If you are, feel free to jump ahead. Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce are both professional football players. The brothers stepped even further into the spotlight ahead of this past Super Bowl. The game was fittingly dubbed the “Kelce Bowl” since Travis is a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and Jason is a center for the Philadelphia Eagles.
So yes, the two went head-to-head, and everyone wanted to know who their mom, Donna Kelce, would be rooting for. We spoke to her exclusively, and in typical mom fashion, she insisted she was rooting for both of them and couldn’t choose between her sons. If you don’t believe us, check out her jacket below that has the Eagles colors and logo on one side and the Chiefs on the other.
In Kelce, a new documentary that centers around Jason, the family got incredibly vulnerable about their personal life and dove into the relationship between the Kelce parents, Donna and Ed. The two were married for 25 years and tried to make the marriage work for the sake of their kids. But Travis knew something was off.
“I knew my mom and dad’s situation was different than other parents,” Travis said in the documentary. “I would go have sleepovers at other houses and the other parents are staying in the same room, and my parents didn’t stay in the same room.”
“I started making those connections when I was in middle school and I realized that they were probably gonna split,” he continued. “But they stayed together for me and Jason’s benefit I believe.”
Travis’ parents confirmed that he wasn’t totally off base.
“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 said.
“Just trying to keep it all together when you’re being a parent,” Donna said. “It’s tough.”
Speaking of “tough,” Jason was sure that was the way he was going to raise his kids.
“Before I had children, I told myself if I ever have a daughter, I’m just going to treat them exactly the same as a son,” he said. “I don’t think that you should treat kids necessarily differently. And then when I had a daughter, I was like, ‘I’m not going to spoil her, I’m going to raise her tough. She’s going to be hard.’”
“And the moment she came out, I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s not going to work,’” he joked.
He’s now a proud girl dad who apparently spoils his three young daughters, Wyatt, Elliotte, and Bennett. Jason admitted fatherhood gave him a new perspective on his parents. “I think I told my mom after Wyatt was born, maybe the first year, I was like, ‘I’m sorry, I had no idea what you guys were actually sacrificing and doing on a daily basis for us,’” Kelce said.
Through thick and thin, they were there for their boys. Even if that meant sleeping in different rooms.
