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A video shared online shows former Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro center turned ESPN analyst Jason Kelce in a wild confrontation with an autograph seeker outside the studio of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Thursday (November 21) night.
Kelce, 37, was attempting to leave the area when a man hurled several profanities at him in a video obtained by TMZ Sports.
“You ain’t nobody special!” the man yelled. “You’re some s**tbag, f**king guy that thinks he’s on some pedestal!”
The man continued yelling that he was upset over Kelce's "attitude" as he and others waited for an autograph while there was "death in these f**king streets two blocks away and you're being a d**k."
Kelce tried to explain that he wouldn't sign autographs for "people that follow where I'm going," however, the man continued to scream at him, which included calling him a "punk f**k" and threatening to "take you on any time." Kelce then told the group he was with he was "gonna sign" before walking over to the onlookers and signing autographs, including the man yelling profanities, who immediately changed his tune, claiming he was "ashamed of that moment" and demanded no one share the video online.
“I feel you and I appreciate you,” Kelce said after the man apologized.
The incident took place several weeks after a viral video showed Kelce smashing a person's phone after they yelled a slur about his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, while referencing his relationship with pop superstar Taylor Swift and repeating the slur back at the individual.
“I’m not happy about the situation,” Jason said during the latest episode of his and Travis' New Heights podcast released on Wednesday (November 6). “Me reacting gave him the time of day and it also gave the situation notoriety. That’s what I regret. Alright. It didn’t deserve attention. It’s really stupid and if I just keep walking it’s a f**king nothing burger. Nobody sees it.
“Now it’s out there and it just perpetuates more hate. The thing that I regret the most is saying that word to be honest with you. That word he used, its just f**king ridiculous, it takes it to another level. It’s just off the wall, f**king over the line. As a human it got under my skin. And it elicited a reaction and in the heat of the moment."
The incident took place after the elder Kelce made an appearance on ESPN's College GameDay. A video showed Jason walking among a group of fans as one person yelled a gay slur about Travis.
An alternate angle showed Jason grab the phone from the man who was standing behind him and angrily smash it on the ground. Another clip showed the elder Kelce yelling "who's the [slur] now" back at the person after smashing the phone.
Travis applauded his brother for how he handled himself publicly after the incident, which included issuing an apology during the opening segment of Monday Night Countdown live from Arrowhead Stadium prior to the Chiefs' Monday Night Football win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I know it’s weighing on you brother,” Travis said. “That s**t sucks. You shouldn’t feel this much — obviously the scrutiny and media view on it and everybody passing around the videos out there. That’s gonna make it a bigger situation than what I think what it really is.
“But the real situation is you had some f**king clown come up to you and talk about your family and you reacted in a way that was defending your family and you might’ve used some words that you regret using and that’s you just gotta kind of learn from and own and I think you owning it and speaking about it shows how sincere you are to a lot of people on this world and it shows what you said on Monday night. You don’t choose that. That’s just not who you are. I love you brother and I think you said that perfectly.”
Many social media users sided with Kelce after the incident took place. The former All-Pro center was officially announced to join ESPN in May, two months after announcing his retirement. Kelce is one of the most celebrated players in Eagles history, starting at center in all 193 games of his 13-year NFL career, including the franchise's lone Super Bowl victory in Super Bowl LII, while being selected as a first-team All-Pro six times (2017-19, 2021-23) and Pro Bowler seven times (2014, 2016, 2019-23).