Donna Kelce on raising her Super Bowl sons Travis and Jason
The mother of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Eagles offensive lineman Jason Kelce spoke to Matt Harmon on Radio Row at Super Bowl LVII about the question she’s tired of answering. Mrs. Kelce also takes us through the Kelce brothers’ childhood in a quick-fire game of who’s better. Donna joined Yahoo Sports on behalf of Sleep Number - find out more at sleepnumber.com.
Video Transcript
[CROWD CHEERING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MATT HARMON: Matt Harmon here with the real star of the Super Bowl this year-- it's Donna Kelce, the mother of Travis and Jason Kelce. Donna, thanks for being here today. How are you doing?
DONNA KELCE: It's been an unreal week. I can tell you that.
MATT HARMON: I've been asking all of our guests here--
DONNA KELCE: Mm-hmm?
MATT HARMON: --what's the question that you've gotten so far the most that you're sick of being asked? I have a feeling I know what yours is, but--
DONNA KELCE: Yeah.
MATT HARMON: --why don't you tell me?
DONNA KELCE: Yeah. It's just, who am I rooting for?
MATT HARMON: I know.
DONNA KELCE: You can't do it. So I'm 50/50.
MATT HARMON: All right. We're gonna play a little game with you--
DONNA KELCE: OK.
MATT HARMON: --if you don't mind. It's basically like, again, we're just gonna try to get to know the guys a little bit better.
DONNA KELCE: Mm-hmm.
MATT HARMON: So between Jason and Travis, who had better grades growing up?
DONNA KELCE: I think Jason might have.
MATT HARMON: OK. That's a point for Jason.
DONNA KELCE: Yeah.
MATT HARMON: Who calls you more?
DONNA KELCE: Oh, that's a tossup. Being in the NFL, it's so demanding that I'm usually the one that contacts them.
MATT HARMON: OK, so that's a tie. No points to either one.
DONNA KELCE: Mm-mm.
MATT HARMON: Who had a cleaner room growing up?
DONNA KELCE: Um, they were both terrible. There was food plates always under their bed. The only thing is Travis was very meticulous with how his cars were lined up, how his trophies were lined up. And Jason would throw them in a box.
MATT HARMON: So do you want to give the point to Travis on that or again a tie?
DONNA KELCE: I think so. I think so.
MATT HARMON: Who did their chores more regularly?
DONNA KELCE: Oh. OK, I will have to give it to Jason.
MATT HARMON: OK.
DONNA KELCE: Jason because if we wanted to go somewhere, like, I said, you have to clean your room in order to go to, like, the theme park or whatever--
MATT HARMON: Mm-hmm.
DONNA KELCE: --Travis would say, I'm not doing it, and Jason would do both of their rooms--
MATT HARMON: Oh, wow.
DONNA KELCE: --because he wanted to go really bad.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, he wanted to go. So who helped with the dog more?
DONNA KELCE: I'd say they both played with her. But--
MATT HARMON: OK.
DONNA KELCE: --it was really Travis's dog. So--
MATT HARMON: So tie or give the point to Travis?
DONNA KELCE: We'll give it to Travis.
MATT HARMON: All right. We'll give it to Trav, then. There we go.
DONNA KELCE: Yeah.
MATT HARMON: Who got grounded less?
DONNA KELCE: Oh, geez.
MATT HARMON: Or who got in trouble less?
DONNA KELCE: I think it would be Jason.
MATT HARMON: OK.
DONNA KELCE: You know, I heard from the school more about Jason because he was very loud.
MATT HARMON: Yeah.
DONNA KELCE: He has to be to give out all those calls on the line. But, um, yeah, but Travis, he would smile and get out of everything.
MATT HARMON: All right.
[LAUGHTER]
Who made their curfew more often when they were teenagers?
DONNA KELCE: Oh, Travis, he would go out of his window, jump on the flat roof on top of the porch, and he was gone. There were some times we didn't even know he was out of the house.
MATT HARMON: So Jason was a little more responsible--
DONNA KELCE: Yeah.
MATT HARMON: --with the curfew.
DONNA KELCE: Oh, yeah.
MATT HARMON: OK.
DONNA KELCE: Yeah.
MATT HARMON: Who shared their toys better?
DONNA KELCE: They were always fighting about toys, but mostly it was about media games. They played a lot of, you know, like, minihockey.
MATT HARMON: Mm-hmm.
DONNA KELCE: You know, they did a lot of that.
MATT HARMON: Air hockey, that type of thing.
DONNA KELCE: Yeah.
MATT HARMON: So no points for sharing?
DONNA KELCE: No not really.
MATT HARMON: Who gave you better gifts, or who still gives you better gifts?
DONNA KELCE: You know, that's a tossup. They are very, very generous, as human beings, to me as well as my friends. They get to come and go to their games and everything. I can't pick one.
MATT HARMON: OK, no one there.
DONNA KELCE: No.
MATT HARMON: Last one here-- who is the son that you can be like, all right, buddy, come here, help me in the kitchen, I need you here, and you can rely on them a little more?
DONNA KELCE: Oh. I think it would be Jason.
MATT HARMON: OK.
DONNA KELCE: Yeah.
MATT HARMON: All right, well--
DONNA KELCE: But they have both been there for me when I've been in really bad situations. So yeah.
MATT HARMON: So do you want to give a point to Jason or you want to go tie again?
DONNA KELCE: It's got to be a tie.
[LAUGHTER]
So, so sorry.
MATT HARMON: No, no. That's all right.
DONNA KELCE: Yeah.
MATT HARMON: You raised good kids.
DONNA KELCE: I can see-- I can actually talk about instances. You know, they've each been with me at different times, so--
MATT HARMON: All right. Well, our final count here-- we had 10 questions. We threw a handful out because these guys are so good. They tied.
DONNA KELCE: Yeah.
MATT HARMON: But at the final count here is four for Jason, two for Travis.
DONNA KELCE: OK. He's the more responsible one. But they're both really good kids.
MATT HARMON: But this does not mean you're rooting for the Eagles. It means--
DONNA KELCE: No.
MATT HARMON: --you're just rooting for both of your boys. And you're here with us on behalf of Sleep Number. Tell us what you got going on with them.
DONNA KELCE: OK, Sleep Number is great. I mean, you need to have good sleep for, obviously, a lot of reasons to make sure that your body functions properly. And it's been key in my life. I've had one for over 20 years.
MATT HARMON: Mm-hmm. And sleep is the most important thing that people overlook all the time.
DONNA KELCE: Yeah, it's really important. I mean, for everything, for, you know, keeping yourself, you know, alert during the day, for wellness, just everything. And even mentally, you know, it's good, too.
MATT HARMON: Well, Donna, thank you so much for your time today. This was awesome to get to know you, awesome to get to know more about Travis and Jason. Really appreciate your time today.
DONNA KELCE: Thanks.