Former Philadelphia Eagles center and current ESPN analyst Jason Kelce apologized on the network Monday night after getting into trouble with a fan over the weekend.
“I choose to respond to hate with hate,” Kelce said Saturday as he confronted fans in State College, Pennsylvania, before Ohio State’s win over Penn State. Kelsey slammed a fan’s cell phone to the ground Saturday morning after the fan made a homophobic slur toward Kelsey’s brother Travis.
“I’m not happy about anything that happened. I’m not proud of it,” Kelce said on ESPN. “In a moment of rage, I choose to greet hate with hate, and I don’t think that’s a productive thing to do. I really don’t. I don’t think it leads to discussion, and I don’t think it leads to things. I think the right thing to do is to move on. At that moment, I fell to a level I shouldn’t have.”
Jason Kelce opened “Monday Night Countdown” with an apology.
“I choose to respond to hate with hate, and I don’t think that’s productive.” pic.twitter.com/9rScqAKpVD
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Kelce was on Penn State’s campus Saturday morning to appear on ESPN’s “College GameDay.” As he walked through the tailgate before the game, which Ohio State won 20-13, a fan chased him, confronted him and appeared to film him with a cell phone.
A fan can be heard shouting, “Kelsey, what do you think about your brother being upset about dating Taylor Swift?”
Kelce then yelled the same slur at the fan, slammed the fan’s phone, confronted him and walked away.
Warning: The following video contains NSFW language
“Kelsey, what do you think about your brother’s obsession with dating Taylor Swift?”
Jason Kelce slammed the child’s cell phone to the ground.
A Penn State student appeared to attack Kelsey in the face for no reason. Wild scene at State University pic.twitter.com/3PEdZXWhSg
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Kelce issued an apology at the beginning of ESPN’s Monday Night Football pregame broadcast ahead of Monday night’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I think the bottom line is that I try to live my life according to the Golden Rule,” he said. “That’s what I’ve always been taught. I try to treat people with common sense and respect, and although I wasn’t able to do that this week, I’m going to continue to do that. I will continue to do that.” I plan on doing so.”
Kelce played 13 seasons with the Eagles, but his popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, due in part to Swift’s relationship with his brother, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. The Kelce brothers’ podcast has also exploded in popularity recently, and the pair signed a three-year deal worth more than $100 million in August.
It is unclear whether more information will emerge from Saturday’s incident or whether Kelce spoke with the fan in the days that followed. But Kelce seemed ready to forget that Monday night.
