CELEBRITIES
The Kelce brothers have had some epic on-field battles throughout their careers.
Ed and Donna Kelce have slightly different versions of the epic fight between their sons Jason and Travis — the one that resulted in a shattered casserole dish and a shift in the dynamic between the highly competitive brothers.
Both agree it carried over from the basketball court to the kitchen. Jason, a center for the Philadelphia Eagles, was a 6-foot-3 senior in high school in 2006-07. Travis, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, was a sophomore who had finally grown taller than his big brother, sprouting to 6-5. Travis got the better of Jason that day — at last. Ed recalls Travis rubbing it in until Jason snapped, while Donna believes Jason raised Travis’ ire by cheating on the court to maintain the upper hand.
No one disputes what happened next.
“They started fighting,” Donna said, “and [Travis] literally drove [Jason] into the floor in the kitchen, and the stove bounced off of the brackets.”
“I’ve got a casserole on the stove, dinner for the two of them. Couldn’t get them moving. Of course, I’m concerned about sharp corners on cabinets, heads cracking on that,” Ed said. “They’re tangled up, so I just grabbed them together, and just go down, and they fall down on top of me. I screamed, ‘Oh my god, my back!’ There was nothing wrong with me, it just hit me: What a great idea. Let’s change the whole dynamic here. And so now everybody’s worried about Dad. They’re not blaming each other, they’re trying to help me up, get me to a chair. And a few minutes later I managed to get up gingerly, walk around. It wasn’t for another half hour, when the casserole was supposed to be done, that I opened the stove and I said, ‘You’re getting pizza again tonight!'”
“I think that’s when both of them finally realized they were equals and that they couldn’t do this anymore,” Donna said. “That was the end of it. No one picked a fight with the other one after that. It was over.”
The years since have brought incredible success for the Kelce brothers. Jason is an All-Pro who has quietly built a compelling case for Hall of Fame consideration over his nine-year career. Travis, an All-Pro for the Super Bowl-winning Chiefs, is arguably the best tight end in the NFL.
They know how to dominate a parade as well. Jason’s emotional “Underdog” speech, delivered in a glistening green Mummers outfit from the “Rocky” steps in celebration of Philadelphia’s first Super Bowl victory after the 2017 season, became instant legend.