During 'College Gameday' at Penn State's campus, ESPN analyst Jason Kelce reacted fiercely after a fan insulted him, smashing the individual's phone.
The altercation was captured on camera as the ex-NFL star, who spent 14 years with the Philadelphia Eagles, was provoked by a Penn State supporter who allegedly taunted@ "Kelce! How does it feel that your brother's a f***** for dating Taylor Swift?"
In response, Kelce, whose brother is indeed in a relationship with the 14-time Grammy award-winning artist Swift, grabbed the fan's phone and slammed it to the ground, reportedly retorting: "who's the f***** now?"
Despite the incident, ESPN has decided not to reprimand their new recruit. Meanwhile, Penn State Police are looking into the matter.
Addressing the event on his 'New Heights' podcast alongside his brother Travis, Kelce expressed regret: "Everybody's seen on social media everything that took place this week. Listen, I'm not happy with anything that took place.
"I'm not proud of it. In a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don't think that that's a productive thing. Bottom line is, I try to live my life by the Golden Rule ... treat people with common decency and respect. I'm going to keep doing that moving forward, even though I fell short this week."
Travis Kelce made his next public appearance just two days later on ESPN's 'Monday Night Football' coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the Kansas City Chiefs - a match that Taylor Swift attended to support him.
The reaction to Kelce's actions online has been mixed. Some criticised the ESPN analyst for using homophobic language, while others praised him for defending his brother.
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas used X to commend Kelce, saying: "I shouldn't say, but whatever. I appreciate Jason Kelce standing up for his family."
Barstool Sports' head honcho Dave Portnoy took to X, defending Kelce's choice of words: "The only thing Kelce should have apologized for is maybe using the F word. But anybody with a brain knows he was just repeating what was said to him.
"If he called him a [...], [...], [...] that woulda been the word he used. Golden rule was applied perfectly. He treated that guy exactly how he deserved to be treated."
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