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PARIS – Ilona Maher has become Team USA’s social media star of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Now she’s recruited a celebrity fan for the United States women’s rugby team: former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.
In her sarcastic tone that has been the driving force of her Olympic-related videos, Maher – a two-time Olympian – asked Kelce whether he’d agree to be the team’s “celebrity fan” in the same vein rapper Flavor Flav is supporting the U.S. women’s water polo squad.
“Do you get anything from being our super fan? No,” Maher says in a video. “There’s no money. There’s no benefits at all.”
Kelce bought into the bit and declared he was “officially a fan, women’s rugby Olympics.”
“We got Jason!” Maher, 27, said with a celebratory shout.
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It’s an especially fitting match because the U.S. women’s rugby team is nicknamed “the Eagles.”
Kelce, wearing a tight t-shirt and beret-adjacent cap, hung out with the team after they defeated Japan and Brazil in seeding play.
Kelce and his wife, Kylie, also hung out with the U.S. women’s field hockey team. Kylie Kelce was a field hockey player in her youth and filmed some promotional content with the team ahead of the Games. Maher said she and Kylie Kelce had also previously spoken.
The U.S. women’s rugby team defeated Great Britain in the quarterfinal Monday following a loss to France earlier in the day. They advanced to the semifinals and have already secured the best finish at an Olympics in team history.
“For him to be supporting us was really cool,” Maher said, according to the Associated Press.
Kelce retired following last season and is primed for a future career in media between the podcast he co-hosts with his brother and his gig as a studio analyst on ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown” show.
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