“I Chose To Greet Hate With Hate”– Jason Kelce Addresses Smashing Fan’s Phone At Penn State

Jason Kelce didn't even make it to his next New Heights episode before he was given the floor on ESPN to address the incident from this past weekend where he rightfully smashed a trolling fan's cellphone on the ground. Ahead of Monday night's Bucs-Chiefs matchup, Kelce gave his first public response to the fiasco from Saturday, where somebody was giving him a hard time about his brother Travis dating Taylor Swift. This moron suggested that Travis is a "f****t" for dating Taylor, which prompted Kelce's incensed retaliation on the troll's mobile device. https://twitter.com/jarrett_daveler/status/1852742194248962053?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1852742194248962053%7Ctwgr%5Eb920fda4400f4b58f14ee3acb4d1e249c5683824%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whiskeyriff.com%2F2024%2F11%2F02%2Fjason-kelce-smash-phone-response%2F In the heat of the moment, another angle of the altercation caught Kelce saying the homophobic slur back to the Travis-Taylor hater. https://twitter.com/JoePops_/status/1852771781599220073 Even though most people were inclined to give him a pass for the verbal slip-up, including folks from the LGBTQ community, it seemed evident in his statement on TV that Kelce regretted the totality of his involvement in the impromptu conflict. You can find the most salient chunks of what he said below. "Listen, I'm not happy with anything that took place. I'm not proud of it. In a heated moment, I chose the greet hate with hate, and I just don't think that that's a productive thing. I really don't. I don't think that it leads to discourse. […] in that moment, I fell down to a level that I shouldn't have. […] I try to live my life by the golden rule. That's what I've always been taught. I try to treat people with common decency and respect. And I'm going to keep doing that moving forward, even though…I fell short this week." https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1853575818875634122 While I wasn't necessarily 100% on board with how Kelce handled the stupid subhuman in Penn State's Happy Valley, you can't really blame him for popping off at someone like that. Not much to add from my opinion before about how Kelce is among the most visible pro athletes on the planet. Now that I think of it, when was the last time that happened for a freaking NFL center? I'm almost certain it's unprecedented. The massive fame is as much to do with the Trav-Tay coupling as it does with Jason's own gigantic personality and smashing successes with the aforementioned New Heights podcast and in media via ESPN. Totally understand the "he's a public figure, gets paid a gazillion dollars, and it comes with the territory" argument for why Kelce shouldn't even bother responding to any fan, no matter how hateful or ridiculous their conduct is. But who knows? Maybe Kelce was having a difficult day, or he'd let so many ignorant comments from fans slide before, that this was the one that finally sprung him into angered action. I don't pretend to know... What I do know is that it's disheartening to hear young American dudes talk like that fan did to Kelce at this point in human history. Not only does the insult suggest a lack of sophisticated intelligence and indecency, but think about what an absolute s**t for brains you have to instigate any sort of fight with Jason Kelce. What was the end goal here? To look cool in front of your friends or on camera? That is, assuming you had friends, never mind ones who cared enough to take video of you. So yeah, I'm like most people and am on Jason Kelce's side. I know I just made the point about how it sucks to hear that slur in 2024, and how Kelce threw it back in the troll's face. But whereas that kid went out of his way to choose his words carefully, hoping to trigger a rise out of someone, Kelce was acting on blind instinct and rage at somebody insulting his family in such an offensive way. He seems genuinely remorseful about what he said. How about we all agree to move on without any need to further examine this sad situation. Stay tuned, though. I have a feeling Jason and Travis will both address this on New Heights coming up here soon.