Former Philadelphia Eagles center and current ESPN analyst Jason Kelce apologized to the network Monday night after having an incident with a fan over the weekend.
Kelce said he “chose to greet hate with hate” when confronted by a fan in State College, Pennsylvania, on Saturday prior to Ohio State’s win over Penn State. Kelce smashed a fan’s phone to the ground Saturday morning after that fan used a homophobic slur aimed at Kelce’s brother, Travis.
“I’m not happy with what happened. I’m not proud of it,” Kelce said on ESPN. “In a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that’s a productive thing. No way. I don’t think this will lead to any discussion and that it is the right way to go about things. At that point I dropped to a level I shouldn’t have.”
Jason Kelce opens “Monday Night Countdown” with an apology.
“I’ve chosen to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that’s a productive thing.” pic.twitter.com/9rScqAKpVD
— Terrible announcement (@awfulannouncing) November 4, 2024
Kelce was on Penn State’s campus Saturday morning to appear on ESPN’s “College GameDay.” As he walked through the tailgates for the game, which Ohio State won 20-13, a fan chased him and confronted him as he appeared to be filming on his phone.
The fan can be heard shouting, “Kelce, how does it feel that your brother is in love with dating Taylor Swift?”
Kelce, who later used the same slur against the fan, slammed the fan’s phone, confronted him and then walked away.
Warning: The following videos contain language that is NSFW
“Kelce, how does it feel that your brother wants to date Taylor Swift?”
Jason Kelce then smashed this kid’s phone to the ground.
It looked like a Penn State student got in Kelce’s face for no reason. Wild scene in State College pic.twitter.com/3PEdZXWhSg
— Chives (@jarrett_daveler) November 2, 2024
Kelce, ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs’ game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, opened ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” pregame broadcast with his apology.
“I think the bottom line is I try to live my life by the golden rule,” he said. “That’s what I was always taught. I try to treat people with common decency and respect, and I will continue to do so in the future, even though I fell short this week. I will do that in the future.”
Kelce played 13 seasons with the Eagles, though his popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, thanks in part to his brother, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and his relationship with Swift. The Kelce brothers’ podcast has also recently exploded, with the two signing a three-year deal worth more than $100 million in August.
It’s unclear if anything more will come of Saturday’s incident, or if Kelce spoke to the fan in question in the days that followed. However, Kelce seemed more than ready to put it behind him Monday night.
