Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce have two supportive parents who are their sons’ biggest cheerleaders in their NFL careers. Everyone knows Travis and Jason’s beloved mother, Donna Kelce, and while their dad, Ed Kelce, is not as famous as his ex-wife, he’s just as much a loving parent to his talented kids. Ed made history when he became the first NFL father to have sons play each other at the 2023 Super Bowl. Since then, Ed and the rest of the Kelce family have been thrusted into the spotlight even more thanks to Travis’ rumored relationship with Taylor Swift.
With the world gushing over Travis and Taylor, there’s a lot more attention on the Kansas City Chiefs player’s loved ones, including his father. Here is everything you need to know about Ed Kelce.
Ed worked in the steel industry.
Ed is retired now, but he used to work as a sales rep who sold products to steel manufactures. He talked about how he brought Travis, 33, and Jason, 35, to his job at a steel mill back in the day.
“I’d take them there — hard hat, safety glasses, boots, the whole nine yards,” Ed told the Los Angeles Times in February 2023. “I’d tell them, `You can have a job like your mother’s, or you can have a job like mine.’ ” As we know, both of Ed’s sons pursued careers in professional football.
He comes from a military family.
Ed revealed on an episode of his sons’ podcast, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, that he initially wanted to go to college after graduating high school, but ultimately his families’ ties to the military sent his life path in a different direction. He applied for the Army but was rejected because of a knee injury. He joined the Coast Guard but was cut during boot camp because he had Crohn’s disease. So, because of his health issues, Ed pivoted to a career in the steel industry.
He was married to Donna Kelce for almost 25 years.
Ed and Donna got married in the 1970s and had two sons together. But after nearly 25 years of marriage, the former couple decided to divorce. However, Donna and Ed have remained on good terms since their split, as Donna explained on Travis and Jason’s podcast.
“I don’t hate him. We’re friends to this day,” Donna said about Ed. “We get along great. We were like a tag team with you two. We got to do all sorts of fun things. When one of you had to go out of town, the other person would help with the other child. It was perfect.”
He’s a proud football dad.
Ed has been proud to watch Travis play for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Jason for the Philadelphia Eagles. In February 2023, he was prepared for an emotional game for Super Bowl LVII. He told his sons that he planned to see whoever lost on the field first on their podcast.
“But by 10 o’clock Sunday night, somebody’s brokenhearted and somebody’s celebrating. We’ll deal with that the best we can when it happens,” he told The Los Angeles Times ahead of the game, which was won by the Chiefs.
He’s a grandfather.
Ed has three grandchildren, all from Jason’s marriage to Kylie McDevitt. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ed moved to Philadelphia so he could be closer to Jason and his grandkids. He lives about a mile away from his oldest son, according to his LA Times interview. When he goes to Kansas City, he stays with Travis.
