Travis and Jason Kelce discussed the viral altercation that took place between Jason and a college football fan at last weekend's Penn State-Ohio State game on Wednesday's episode of their New Heights podcast.
Videos of Jason taken last Saturday near Beaver Stadium showed a fan calling Travis a homophobic slur while referencing the Kansas City Chiefs tight end's relationship with singer Taylor Swift. Jason reacted by repeating the slur as he appeared to slam the fan's phone to the ground.
"I know it's weighing on you, brother. That s--t sucks," Travis told his brother on Wednesday's podcast. "You shouldn't feel this much, the scrutiny, the media view on it, and everybody passing around the videos that are being out there. That's gonna make it a bigger situation than what it really is.
"The real situation is you had some f--king clown coming up to you to talk about your family, and you reacted in a way that was defending your family. And you might have used some words that you regret using, and that's a situation that you just gotta kind of learn from and own. And I think you owning it, and you speaking about it, shows how sincere you are to a lot of people in this world."
Jason discussed his perspective on the incident at the beginning of the podcast.
"Me reacting gave him the time of day, and it also gave this situation notoriety. That's what I regret," he said. "It didn't deserve attention, it's really stupid, and if I just keep walking, it's a f--king, it's a nothingburger. 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, it's just f--king ridiculous. It takes it to another level, and it's just off the wall, f--king over the line. It's dehumanizing, and it got under my skin. And it elicited a reaction, and in the heat of the moment, I thought in my head, 'Hey, what can I say back to him? I'm going to throw that s--t right back in his face, because f--k him.'"
Jason concluded: "I know now that I shouldn't have done that. Because now, there's a video out there, with me saying that word, him saying that word, and it's not good for anybody. ... Now there's a video, that is very hateful, that is now online, that has been seen by millions of people. And I share fault in perpetuating it, and having it out there."
The Penn State University police have an open investigation into a Saturday incident involving "criminal mischief and disorderly conduct," which the Associated Press' Will Graves confirmed involved Jason.
Jason, who retired from the NFL earlier this year after 13 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, started a broadcasting career with ESPN's Monday Night Countdown ahead of the 2024 season.