Former Philadelphia Eagles center and current ESPN analyst Jason Kelce apologized on the network on Monday night after he got into an incident with a fan over the weekend.
Kelce said he “chose to greet hate with hate” when he was confronted by a fan in State College, Pennsylvania, on Saturday ahead of Ohio State’s win over Penn State. Kelce smashed a fan’s phone to the ground on Saturday morning after that fan used a homophobic slur that was directed at Kelce’s brother, Travis.
“I’m not happy with anything that took place. 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. I really don’t. I don’t think that it leads to discourse and it’s the right way to go about things. In that moment, I fell down to a level that I shouldn’t have.”
Jason Kelce opens “Monday Night Countdown” with an apology.
“I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that’s a productive thing.” pic.twitter.com/9rScqAKpVD
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 4, 2024
Kelce was on campus at Penn State to appear on ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday morning. As he was walking through tailgates before the game, which Ohio State won 20-13, a fan chased after him and confronted him while appearing to film on his phone.
The fan can be heard screaming out, “Kelce, how does it feel that your brother is a f***** for dating Taylor Swift?”
Kelce, who used the same slur back to the fan later, 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 is a f****t for dating Taylor Swift?”
Jason Kelce proceeded to slam this kids phone on the ground.
Looked like a Penn State student was getting 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’ve always been taught. I try to treat people with common decency and respect, and I’m going to keep doing that going forward even though I fell short this week. I’m going to do that moving forward.”
Kelce spent 13 seasons playing with the Eagles, though his popularity has soared in recent years due in part to his brother, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and his relationship with Swift. The Kelce brothers’ podcast has exploded recently, too, and the two signed a three-year deal for it worth more than $100 million in August.
It’s unclear if more will come from the incident on Saturday, or if Kelce has spoken with the fan in question in the days since. Kelce, however, seemed more than ready to put it behind him on Monday night.