Jason Kelsey opens up about ‘heated’ phone-smashing incident and exchange of homophobic slurs

On the weekends Jason Kelsey attended the Ohio-Penn State game in Pennsylvania. Before the retired athlete, who previously played center for the Eagles, could get inside, he became embroiled in a heated argument with another patron who used a homophobic slur, referencing his brother Jason Kelce’s relationship with Taylor Swift. It was filmed by the heckler and those who witnessed Kelsey grabbing his phone and smashing it on the ground. Kelsey has since expressed regret over the way he handled the altercation.

“I think everyone has seen on social media everything that has happened this week. Look, I’m not happy with everything that happened. I’m not proud of it,” Kelce said during ESPN’s pregame show Monday night. “In a hot moment, I decided to meet hate with hate. And I just don’t think that’s productive, really. I don’t think this leads to debate and that this is the right way to approach things.”

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In a viral video exchange that collected millions of impressions on X (formerly Twitter), a young man can be seen walking behind Kelsey and shouting, “Hey Kelsey. How do you feel about your jerk brother dating Taylor Swift?”

The homophobic remarks were directed at the athlete’s brother, Travis Kelce, a current player for the Kansas City Chiefs. In another portion of the video, filmed by another participant, the first critic can be heard asking for his phone after the athlete grabbed it and threw it to the ground. “Who the hell now?” Kelsey could be heard saying.

“At that point, I fell to a level I shouldn’t have,” Kelce continued Monday. “The bottom line is that I try to live by the golden rule that I have always been taught – to treat people with common decency and respect. I will continue to move forward even though I failed this week.”

The Kelsey Brothers are co-hosts New Heights podcast, but did not share a new recorded episode following the incident. Expressing regret over the way the situation was handled on EPSN, Kelsey noted: “I don’t think it’s a platform where it’s necessarily worth going into detail.”

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