One way or the other, Travis Kelce’s mother, Donna, will be happy after the Super Bowl.
When the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles play on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Ariz., Donna will become the first mother in NFL history to have two sons playing against each other in the Super Bowl. Travis, of course, is the star tight end for the Chiefs, and Jason is the starting center for the Eagles.
“Cool scenario to be in,” Travis said after the Chiefs defeated the Bengals in the AFC championship game. “My mom can’t lose! I’ll just leave it at that. It’s going to be an amazing feeling playing against him.
“Obviously, I respect everybody over there in the Eagles organization. And you won’t see me talking too much trash because of how much respect I have. And I love my brother. But it’s definitely going to be an emotional game, that’s for sure.”
Both Kelce brothers have obviously already played in and won a Super Bowl. Travis has played in two Super Bowls and won one with the Chiefs, and Jason was part of the 2017 Eagles team that defeated Tom Brady and the Patriots.
Jason is two years older than Travis and both have been coached by Andy Reid, who spent 14 years with the Eagles before coming to the Chiefs.
“I have invested time in both those two,” Reid said. “So I feel like I’m part of the family.”
Reid has coached Travis since his first year with the Chiefs and has watched him become one of the greatest ever at the tight end position. In the AFC championship game against the Bengals, Kelce had seven catches for 78 yards and a touchdown. Kelce’s performance came just two days after his back tightened up at practice, which left him questionable for the game.
Kelce, though, wasn’t about to sit out, and the Chiefs needed everything he had as three of their wide receivers left the game with injuries. However, Skyy Moore and Marcus Kemp stepped up and made plays when called upon.
“We had a lot of guys banged up and what that meant was we were going to need some guys to step up and that’s on offense and defense and even special teams,” Kelce said. “You saw a lot of guys getting put in there and having to step up and that’s what makes this thing that much more better. And that’s what makes this game that much sweeter.
“When you can get all three phases to come together and win the biggest game of your year up to this point, it’s a sweet feeling. And being in that locker room sharing that moment with these guys, I’ll remember it forever.”
Now Kelce is hoping to make more memories with a second Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs.
“I feel like everybody in that locker room has the same mentality,” Kelce said. “This is awesome but winning the Super Bowl is the biggest goal. And we’ve been to a Super Bowl — the leaders, the coaches that have been here. We’ve been to the Super Bowl and haven’t won it. And that was the last taste that I got of it. So to speak to the free agents and the new and upcoming guys, the guys that we got in the draft, obviously they’ve all helped us get to this point. And we’re going to need them even more in the Super Bowl. But I can’t thank them enough for choosing Kansas City, that’s for sure.
“You go into it with the right mindset. You’ve got to get healthy, and from there we’ll figure out how we’re going to attack the Eagles and how we’re going to defend the Eagles. And these two weeks tend to be some of the longest days that I’ve ever experienced. So we definitely have a lot of time to be able to get healthy and get the right mindset and get everybody on the same page.”
