Jason Kelce Has a Firm Message About Travis Kelce and Andy Reid's Super Bowl Incident
L: Jason Kelce, R: Andy Reid and Travis Kelce
Jason Kelce has a strong message for anyone continuing to criticize Travis Kelce over his now-infamous altercation with Andy Reid on the sidelines of Super Bowl 2024.
The Eagles player is all "fire[d] up" over the whole thing, acknowledging that the "optics" aren't great but suggesting that, at its heart, the situation has been greatly misconstrued.
If you somehow managed to miss the moment, Travis caught some heat after he was caught on camera knocking into the head coach as he yelled at the man so aggressively that his entire face went red. Some fans urged him to "do better" as the moment went viral, while others suggested that those upset by the moment didn't really understand what goes down on the sidelines.
Naturally, Jason falls into the latter group of folks and took some time out of this week's episode of the brothers' podcast, New Heights, to explain why.
"You didn't try and push him, you ran up on him quick—it was an accident that you hit him that hard," Jason told his brother as the two broke down the moment. "I know that. You came up hot because you were pissed off. Doesn't look great, obviously...but nobody knows yours and Big Red's relationship."
He continued, "I just love when people who don't have anything to do with the situation get all riled up. Like, they're offended. Not the guy that actually was involved in it, but the people who don't know what you two's relationship is or how this went down..."
The coach, of course, has already "made light" of the situation, joking that Travis "keeps [him] young." He and Travis have also had several opportunities now to talk about the incident, with the tight end sharing that they "chuckled about it" when all was said and done.
"I love playing for the guy, and, unfortunately, sometimes my passion comes out where it looks like it's negativity, but I'm grateful that he knows it's all because I want to win this thing with him more than anything," Travis explained during the episode, emphasizing how things are not always as they seem.
Jason admitted that both players consider their emotions to be both a weakness and a strength, which he opened up about when he recorded a podcast with Shaquille O'Neal earlier in the week. "It's something that I truly wish we were better at," he admitted, sharing a "similar situation" to Travis' where he was caught yelling at Nick Sirianni. "I'm not happy at the optics of that, or want that to happen, but Nick knows that it comes from a place of just heated competition."
They each agreed that they weren't "trying to make light of this situation," but called on those emotions as part of why they're as "bonded" with their teammates as they are.
"Your coaches talked about it the night before [the Super Bowl], how emotional and passionate your speech was," Jason pointed out. "You don't get that without also having this, unfortunately—that's the crux of being a passionate individual..."
He continued, "...this doesn't happen if you and Andy aren't as close as you are. That's what nobody knows. The reason this happens is because you guys have so much respect for each other...that you feel open enough to have an interaction like this."
It's also how Travis became the "best tight end in the world," Jason suggested. "You don't become the best tight end in the world by being a reasonable, level-headed person; that's not how it works, all right? You be the best in the world by being an insane human being."
