Jason Kelce Is ‘Not Proud’ About Incident with College Football Fan Who Called Brother Travis a Homophobic Slur

Kelce, who was attending the Ohio State-Penn State football game, smashed the heckler’s phone outside Beaver Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 2

Jason Kelce. Photo: David Eulitt/Getty

Jason Kelce is addressing the altercation between him and a football fan who called his brother Travis Kelce a homophobic slur.

“I’m not happy with anything that took place. I’m not proud of it,” the retired Philadelphia Eagles player, 36, said at the start of Monday Night Countdown on ESPN. “Within a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate and I don’t think that’s a productive thing. I don’t think it leads to discourse.”

“In that moment I fell down to a level that I shouldn’t have,” Jason continued. “Bottom line is, I try to live my life by the golden rules. That’s what I’ve always been taught. I try to treat people with decency and respect. I’m going to keep doing that moving forward.”

He ended his statement by telling viewers, “We got a game to focus on. A matchup. I don’t think this is the platform to necessarily go into more detail.”

On Saturday, Nov. 2, Jason attended the Ohio State-Penn State football game at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

In footage circulating on X, formerly known as Twitter, fans gathered around Jason as he walked to the stadium, with some heckling. While the person filming tried to fist bump Jason, another man close behind the former football star shouted the slur.

“Hey, Kelce. How does it feel your brother’s a f—– dating Taylor Swift?” the man yelled at Jason. The slur was used to describe Travis, who has been dating the singer, 34, since 2023.

Jason quickly turned around, took the man’s phone and forcefully threw it to the ground. The former Philadelphia Eagles star then picked the phone up and walked away.

Jason Kelce at a broadcast.Vera Nieuwenhuis/AP

Other footage on X showed the heckler, wearing a Penn State hoodie, following the NFL alum closely and apparently filming him before the incident occurred.

Another video, seemingly filmed after the altercation, showed the football fan trying to retrieve his phone. Jason, who got to it first, said “Who’s the f—– now?”

“Looked like a Penn State student was getting in Kelce’s face for no reason,” the initial X user captioned the video. “Wild scene in State College.”

Jason was at the game — where the Ohio State Buckeyes beat the Nittany Lions 20-13 — for an appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay.

PEOPLE reached out to both a representative for Jason and ESPN after the incident, but did not immediately receive a response.