Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce prepares for his ESPN debut as a Monday Night Football Analyst before an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bill and the New York Jets, Oct. 14, 2024 in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP/Vera Nieuwenhuis)
- Kelce admits to responding to hate with hate during a heated exchange with an unruly fan at Ohio State-Penn State game.
- Video shows Kelce grabbing and throwing fan's phone after alleged anti-gay slur directed at his brother Travis.
- Former Eagles center emphasizes commitment to treating others with respect, acknowledging his actions fell short of his values.
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KANSAS CITY — Retired Eagles center Jason Kelce apologized during ESPN’s pregame show Monday night after grabbing the phone of an unruly fan and spiking it to the ground before the Ohio State-Penn State game last weekend.
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“In a heated moment, I decided to greet hate with hate,” Kelce said before ESPN’s broadcast of the Buccaneers-Chiefs game featuring his brother, Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce. “I fell short this week.”
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Incident at Beaver Stadium
Jason Kelce was attending the Big Ten matchup between the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions in State College, Pennsylvania, on Saturday when the incident occurred. Video on social media showed him walking through a crowd near Beaver Stadium and fans asking for photos and fist bumps when one fan began to heckle him and appeared to shout an anti-gay slur directed toward his brother for dating Taylor Swift.
At that point, Kelce grabbed the fan’s phone and threw it to the ground, then turned to confront the man dressed in Penn State attire. Kelce appeared to use the same anti-gay slur during the exchange before another fan stepped between them before the altercation could escalate.
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Kelce’s Public Apology
“I think everybody has seen on social media what happened this week,” Kelce said on the ESPN broadcast. “Listen, I’m not happy with anything that took place. I’m not proud of it. 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 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.
“The bottom line is, I try to live my life by the golden rule, that’s what I’ve always been taught,” he said. “I try to treat people with common decency and respect, and I’m going to keep doing that moving forward.”
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