The scream. The mask. Cookies. As Jason Kelce retires, memorable moments as a Chiefs fan
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Jason Kelce, older brother of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, announced his retirement from the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday.
And if there was one story of brotherly love that Kansas City Chiefs fans won’t soon forget, it’s how hard Jason cheered on his brother in the team’s postseason run to Super Bowl victory.
He even wore enemy red, just one year after the Chiefs beat the Eagles in the last Super Bowl.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Jason has laid the groundwork for his role as America’s favorite football fan — and brother.
As he hangs up his helmet, here are Jason’s most memorable moments as a (temporary) Chiefs fan.
He wore Chiefs gear
Oh the things we do for family.
We can only imagine what Eagles fans thought after seeing Jason in Chiefs red. We have purposefully stayed away from those social media conversations.
At the AFC Championship Game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Jason wore a red-and-gold Big Yeti T-shirt — that’s his brother’s nickname — under a Hawaiian shirt in the same Chiefs colors with a Chiefs stocking cap.
Then he pulled out all the fashion stops in Vegas, baby.
He showed up at the Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium in a pair of Chiefs bib overalls, red-and-yellow plaid with a red Chiefs T-shirt underneath.
The overalls had a convenient bib pocket for holding an extra beer, or two. ($78 on Amazon.)
He lost his shirt in Buffalo
But Jason didn’t even need a shirt to cheer for Travis.
He created arguably the most viral moment of the postseason when he ripped off his shirt and roared with happiness in a luxury suite at snowy Highmark Stadium after Travis scored a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills in their playoff game.
Jason and his wife, Kylie Kelce, shared a suite at the game with Ma and Pa Kelce and assorted members of Taylor Swift’s gal pal squad, including Brittany Mahomes, wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The media was on high alert to get photos and video of Jason and Swift, his brother’s new girlfriend, presumably meeting for the first time.
That singular moment of joy launched a thousands memes.
Wondering if a cutaway of a shirtless @JasonKelce screaming and holding a beer to celebrate his brother’s touchdown is ruining anyone’s entertainment value of this game out there.
pic.twitter.com/HIvejHNWk7— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) January 22, 2024
CBS cutting to Taylor Swift only to have Jason Kelce shirtless in the background chugging a beer is glorious. pic.twitter.com/aSCWfTGfOm
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 22, 2024
Jason Kelce chugging a beer shirtless photobombing Taylor Swift is too good pic.twitter.com/rGUgLkiisg
— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) January 22, 2024
The Feast Of Bacchus, by Phillips de Koninck, 1654, by @k__h__r pic.twitter.com/7elzpxZske
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) January 22, 2024
The Kansas City Chiefs themselves declared Jason “NO. 1 HYPE MAN!!!!”
NO. 1 HYPE MAN!!!!@JasonKelce x @newheightshow pic.twitter.com/S9k3shjOf5
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 22, 2024
“I got caught up in the magic of Bills Mafia. It is, it is electric,” he said later on the “New Heights” podcast he hosts with his brother.
“The energy, the shenanigans, and I’m, like, I gotta have my shirt off at some point,” he continued. “And I didn’t get to do it beforehand … and I can’t just take my shirt off in the box — like, who takes their shirt off in the box? … So I’m, like — you know what? — I’m taking my shirt off, and I’m jumping out of this box. … This is how my mind works after 40 Miller Lites.”
He helped a little girl see Taylor Swift
Shirtless Jason in Buffalo easily upstaged Swift, especially when he jumped out of the suite’s open window as Swift covered her mouth with her gloved hands in (faux?) horror.
After landing safely on the steps not far below, he yelled something to the nearby Bills fans, chugged from a beer can and climbed back inside.
Jason Kelce jumped out of the suite shirtless to chug a beer with the common folk…..gotta love this guy! pic.twitter.com/y6Gw3d0pSW
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) January 22, 2024
Shirtless Jason Kelce jumps into stands from suite pic.twitter.com/m8QjWimAnW
— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) January 22, 2024
Later, he won the hearts of Swifties everywhere by climbing back out of the suite to hoist up a young Swiftie so she could show her “I (heart) T. Swift” sign to the singer.
He became a cookie cake
After Jason ditched his shirt in Buffalo, a Kansas City baker turned the moment into a cookie cake .
Hannah Stumpner, the manager at Eileen’s Colossal Cookies in Liberty, had phones ringing off the hook after photos of the cake were posted online.
“I actually did not watch the game, but as soon as it was over, I was keeping tabs on the score,” Stumpner told The Star. “I kept seeing this everywhere, just the picture of him, Jason Kelce, shirtless coming out of the box.”
It only took her about 15 to 20 minutes to create an image of Kelce’s roar, which turned out to be a perfect fit for 12-inch, 14-inch, and 16-inch cookie cakes popular with her customers.
“I like the weirder cookies, so I wanted to do something a little different,” she said.
Jason’s chest hair and a little bit of belly hair, just FYI, were made of chocolate curls.
He partied in a Chiefs luchador mask
Jason created even more viral moments as a Chiefs fan when he wore a red and yellow luchador mask, a fabric Mexican wrestling mask, with a Chiefs logo at after-parties in Vegas.
Turns out, it was more of an oops moment.
Jason Kelce in a KC luchador mask partying after the Super Bowl needs be in a museum pic.twitter.com/jLeylKSBja
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) February 13, 2024
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are adorable and allll. but, Jason Kelce drunk af in a Luchador mask?! ICONIC. pic.twitter.com/XIhUNkqJKG
— Melissa (@melissax1125) February 12, 2024
Makes it so much more legendary that Jason Kelce just found the Luchador mask and put it on like Jim Carrey and turned into this.... pic.twitter.com/SM9ho1khI8
— it's always something.... (@DrDutchTweets) February 14, 2024
He unintentionally “borrowed” the mask from a young Chiefs fan from Dallas, and it never made it back to its eighth-grade owner, Elijah Smith.
Jason said he found the mask on the floor at an after-party. “There’s something about finding that luchador mask that really just transformed the night,” he said on a “New Heights” podcast. “It really did. It was insane.”
He also apologized to whomever he took it from.
And Elijah said …
“I gave him my mask and then he dropped it and then picked it back up. Then I got a picture with him wearing it and then I just hung out next to them for five to 10ten minutes, they were dancing and everything,” Elijah told NBC in Dallas.
He said he and his friend tried to run after Jason to get the mask back but the place was crowded and loud.
“I saw videos on Instagram … of him wearing it at the next after-party he went to, so he clearly never took it off the whole night,” Elijah said.
When Jason learned it was a lucky mask belonging to a young Chiefs fan, signed by Chiefs star Trent McDuffie, he launched a search and FaceTimed with Elijah.
“Operation ‘Get Elijah His Mask Back’ is underway!” Jason tweeted just days after the game. “I appreciate everyone bringing this to my attention, and look forward to uniting Elijah with his mask once again.
“Your mask indeed brings great fortune, I owe you big time, sorry it was commandeered.”
No word yet on how the operation has fared.
Operation “Get Elijah His Mask Back” is underway! I appreciate everyone bringing this to my attention, and look forward to uniting Elijah with his mask once again. Your mask indeed brings great fortune, I owe you big time, sorry it was commandeered https://t.co/HHazKInFRi
— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) February 16, 2024