Super Bowl: much more than a clash between brothers for Jason and Travis Kelce

PHOENIX | On the traditional media night to kick off the week of Super Bowl 57 in Phoenix with great fanfare, the spotlight was on Jason and Travis Kelce, who become the first brothers to face off in the ultimate game. Had it not been for their strong brotherly love, this magical moment could well have slipped through their fingers.

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Jason Kelce is the Eagles’ all-star center, five-time NFL First Team All-Star and Super Bowl champion five years ago.

Travis Kelce is the Chiefs tight end who is considered one of the greatest of all time and who also won the Super Bowl three years ago.

The two are now inseparable, to the point where they co-host the popular podcast New Heights and that they repeatedly back each other up when the stakes for their respective teams rise.

They will be rivals on Sunday, but before making the jump to the NFL, they were teammates in the NCAA with the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Teammates on the field, but especially in life.

A decisive event

Before the sun, there was the shadow. At 20 in 2009, young Travis failed an anti-doping test. Expelled from the team and his scholarship withdrawn, he needed divine intervention…or rather fraternal intervention.

Jason, two years his senior, played the big brother role in pushing for Travis to be reinstated. He even invited him to live with him, just to keep an eye on him.

“In Cincinnati, my brother showed me the way. He knew what I wanted to do with my life and he made sure I stayed on the straight and narrow. I had the ambition and the talent, but I needed a second chance to learn from my mistakes.

“I owe him an eternal debt because he really pushed for me. I would never be here without my brother,” testified Travis Kelce in a rare moment of vulnerability, in front of hundreds of journalists.

Fights before happiness

As in many siblings, the Kelce needed to hit each other before respecting and embracing each other.

The harmony that reigns today was not often present at the family home in Ohio.

“In everything we did, I beat him,” Jason joked.

“I was pretty much undefeated in everything until Travis had a growth spurt around 13. I remember we were playing a basketball game in the yard and suddenly I couldn’t stop it. I was frustrated, and then we started arguing. I chased after him into the house, then he picked me up and threw me against the kitchen floor. This is the last time we really fought. We have become too big to do this kind of madness!”, he added.

One laughing, the other crying

Enough memories, the Kelce live happy moments this week. The only downside is that on Sunday evening, while one celebrates, the other will be inconsolable. It’s the cruel nature of sport.

“It’s a moment that will be remembered for the rest of our lives,” said Travis Kelce.

“My goal is to achieve a victory for the Chiefs rather than a victory for the Kelce on the other side. I know it’s a big story here and I appreciate it, but the only thought in my head is a Chiefs win. It’s an incredible moment for our family, but we both realize that this evening is going to end badly for one of us.

A happy mother

Even mom Donna can only realize that this conclusion is inevitable, but that doesn’t stop her from savoring the moment.

Present on the big stage before the launch of the media evening, she did not flinch when questioned about the ambivalent feelings that inhabit her.

“It’s amazing to see them both at this point in their careers. As for being divided, they have already fought en masse in their lives. I’m used to that!”, launched the one who had taken care to bring them cookies cooked with love on the stage. Like what even the toughest to cook have a tender heart.

Sunday night, whoever wins, it will be a victory for the Kelce family.

A victory, also a little, for all these parents discouraged to see their young sons kill each other. Maybe one day these bickering brothers will end up arm in arm, each at the top of their game, like the Kelce.

A gynecologist in the room

PHOENIX | Sunday night, in addition to the two brothers on the field, as well as family members in the stands of State Farm Stadium, another Kelce could potentially invite himself to the big game.

It is that when the Super Bowl will be presented, the spouse of Jason Kelce, Kylie McDevitt, will be 38 weeks pregnant.

Already parents of two young girls, Jason and Kylie know that the third one who is coming could very well show up during this stay in Glendale.

The tender half of the center of the Eagles will also be there and since there is no risk to take, his gynecologist too. A whole family epic!

“If my daughter comes into the world during the game, I will have no choice but to name her Super!” joked the center of the Eagles.

That’s what made his brother Travis say that it was all fixed with the views guy so that their mother had a bias.

“Jason has young children, unlike me. So right now, he’s the one with mommy’s heart.”

The right to brag

For Jason Kelce, there is no doubt that the loser of Super Bowl 57 will hear about it for a long time in the family.

“Whoever wins will have bragging rights to the other all his life. We always encourage each other and I always wish that he will be successful, but he already has all the statistics that will make him a Hall of Famer in his first year of eligibility. It seems to me that I could have more titles of the Super Bowl ”launched the tongue-in-cheek.