NFL brothers Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce share a close relationship both on and off the field

Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce celebrate on the field. PHOTO: JOHN ANGELILLO/UPI/SHUTTERSTOCK

Brothers Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce are on their way to becoming NFL legends: Travis is a record-breaking tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and Jason was the fan-favorite center of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The brothers faced off in the Super Bowl for the first time when the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs played each other on Feb. 12, 2023. Travis and the Chiefs ultimately defeated Jason and the Eagles 38-35 in the historic match-up. As soon as the game ended, Jason gave his little brother a hug and the two seemingly shared a few encouraging words.

Later, Travis got emotional when speaking to the press about his brother following the win. “There’s nothing you can really say to a loved one in a situation like that,” he said while fighting back tears. “You joke around all the time and say you want to beat your brother on the biggest stage, but it’s a weird feeling.” He added, “There’s nothing I can say to him other than I love him and he played a hell of a year, a hell of a season.”

In November 2023, Travis and Jason’s teams faced off again during regular season play. The Eagles beat the Chiefs 21-17 — a feat they haven’t achieved since 2009. Though Jason’s team was ultimately knocked out of the playoffs, Travis’ Chiefs once again secured a spot in the Super Bowl after defeating the Baltimore Ravens during the AFC Championship — and Jason was right there cheering him on.

Everything to Know About the 2024 Super Bowl

The Chiefs ultimately defeated the San Francisco 49ers during Super Bowl 2024, and Jason was once again on hand to support his younger brother, which meant the world to Travis, as he told reporters ahead of the big game.

“Just having his support is all I need. Seeing him at the game, seeing him get excited, that’s everything,” he shared. However, the tight end wasn’t quite sure if this year’s event could live up to the Kelce Bowl.

“I don’t know any moment will ever compare to being on top of the world, going against my brother like that,” he added.

In March 2024, Jason announced that he was retiring from football after 13 seasons in the NFL following weeks of speculation that he was ready to walk away from the game.

From their childhood in Ohio to their decade in the NFL together, here’s everything to know about Jason and Travis Kelce.

Jason and Travis are nearly two years apartTravis Kelce and Jason Kelce smile for a photo. TRAVIS KELCE INSTAGRAM

There are exactly 23 months between Jason and Travis Kelce: Jason was born on Nov. 5, 1987, and Travis arrived on Oct. 5, 1989. The two grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where their father Ed worked in steel and their mother Donna worked in banking, according to Sports Illustrated. Raising two boys so close in age wasn’t always easy, Donna revealed in an interview with FOX 4 Kansas City.

“It’s a lot of broken windows, a lot of, you know, crashes, a lot of fighting … and Travis was always the one that was the instigator because he wanted his brother’s attention,” she shared.

Jason echoed similar sentiments about what it was like growing up with his younger brother Travis. “Two-year age difference, so growing up, in typical younger brother fashion, Travis found all the other ways to get the upper hand — and that was the most annoying thing ever,” Jason said in an interview with NFL Films in 2018.

Besides annoying each other, their close age gap also led to a natural competition developing between the two. “They were very, very competitive from a very early age,” Donna told FOX 4 Kansas City.

But the competitiveness between the brothers wasn’t all bad, according to Travis. “I think the competitiveness that we had growing up is very big on why we’re even in the NFL in the first place,” he told NFL Films.

Their competitiveness carried over into adulthood, Donna told PEOPLE in January, but it’s all in good fun.

“They’re just as competitive as adults today, always jabbing at each other [about] who’s the best,” she said. “It doesn’t stop. They’re each other’s biggest fan.”

They were both kicked out of preschoolJason Kelce and Travis Kelce as kids. COURTESY OF DONNA AND ED KELCE

During an episode of New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, Jason and Travis revealed that they were both kicked out of preschool.

Jason explained that he was involved in an incident while “playing at a cafeteria table” with another student. “For some reason, we were stabbing each other with sporks and I hit him hard enough right in the forehead,” he recalled. “I just remember the next day his dad had him under his arm and he had four little spork dots.”

Meanwhile, Travis said he was asked not to return to preschool after refusing to share a checkers set.

“I kept winning and the teacher told me, you know Travis, you have to share and I was like, that’s not how it rolls,” Travis said, adding that he then “threw the chair I was sitting in at her.”

They played football together at the University of CincinnatiTravis Kelce and Jason Kelce pose for a photo. TRAVIS KELCE INSTAGRAM

The Kelce brothers played multiple sports in high school: They both played football and baseball, and Jason played hockey in the winters while Travis played basketball. But when it came to college, Jason attended the University of Cincinnati and walked on to their football team as a linebacker before becoming an offensive lineman, Sports Illustrated reported.

Two years later, despite having multiple scholarship offers for football, Travis decided to follow his brother and play at Cincinnati. “Being two years behind him, I’ve naturally always kind of followed his footsteps,” he said in an interview with NFL Films. “Being on his team, knowing that he’s already going through this system — it just made the most sense.”

But Travis’ college football career was almost cut short when, after his freshman year in 2009, he failed a drug test. It resulted in him having his scholarship revoked and being kicked off the football team — until Jason stepped in. Jason had Travis move in with him and some other teammates — “So I could keep an eye on him,” Jason told the Philadelphia Inquirer — and also spoke to the head coach about letting Travis back on the team. His big-brother efforts worked.

“I’ve never really asked how he got me back on the team,” Travis said to Sports Illustrated. “That was my brother just being a big brother, looking out for me every step of the way and fighting for the success story.”

Jason played for the Philadelphia Eagles since being drafted in 2011Jason Kelce at an Eagles game. TIM NWACHUKWU/GETTY

After graduating from the University of Cincinnati, Jason was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. As an offensive lineman, he was described as an “undersized, late-round draft pick,” according to Philadelphia Eagles writer Dave Spadaro, who had, “statistically, about a 6 percent chance of lasting two seasons in the NFL.” When he retired, Jason had been the starting center for the Philadelphia Eagles for 13 seasons.

During his career with the Eagles, Jason had no shortage of success. The center made it to the Pro Bowl seven times, has been named first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press six times and won a Super Bowl in 2018. Following Philadelphia’s Super Bowl win (the first in team history), Jason delivered a passionate speech during the team’s victory parade that ultimately went viral.

“Bottom line is, we wanted it more. All the players. All the coaches. The front office. Jeffrey Lurie. Everybody wanted it more. And that’s why we’re up here today. And that’s why we’re the first team in Eagles history to hold that freaking trophy,” he said to the Philly fans.

In March 2022, he signed a one-year, $14 million contract with the Eagles — making him the highest-paid center in the NFL at the time, according to ESPN. “The bottom line is that to be in one place for the entirety of my career truly has been a blessing,” Jason told Spadaro about his time with the Eagles.

Travis was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013Travis Kelce during a Chiefs game. JAMIE SQUIRE/GETTY

Similar to his big brother, Travis has spent his entire NFL career with the same team: The tight end was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. The coach who drafted him to the Chiefs, Andy Reid, was his brother Jason’s former coach at the Philadelphia Eagles.

Travis has since made a name for himself in the NFL for both his performance and his personality. In his 11 seasons with the Chiefs, he’s been invited to the Pro Bowl nine times and is currently preparing for his fourth trip to the Super Bowl (he’s won twice). Beyond his football talents, he’s also well known for his celebratory — and meme-worthy — dances in the end zone.

Many sports analysts consider Travis to be one of the top tight ends to ever play the game, thanks to his ongoing Hall-of-Fame-worthy NFL career. Sports Illustrated ranked him in the top 10 NFL players of 2022, ESPN has called him “one of the best NFL players ever” and Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes considers him “the greatest tight end of all time.” Travis also considers himself one of the best.

“I’m not going to lie to myself. I’m going to look at the film. I’m going to look at the stats. I’m going to look at where my team is compared to everyone else, and I’m going to say, am I the best?” he told GQ in 2017. “I think I’m the best tight end in the game.

Travis wears No. 87 in honor of his brother JasonTravis Kelce takes the field. PETER AIKEN/GETTY

Travis has worn number 87 for the entirety of his career with the Chiefs — and that number pays special tribute to his big brother Jason. The tight end revealed in a post-game exchange with Jason that he had selected the number in honor of Jason’s birth year, 1987.

“You’re the only reason why I wear 87 anyways,” Travis said to Jason on the sidelines. “I never told you that, man. You started the legacy.”

Travis elaborated on his decision to wear number 87 in an interview with NFL Films. “If there is a Kelce legacy, two brothers making it to the NFL, it all started in 1987 because this big guy was born in 1987,” Travis said while sitting beside Jason.

They host a podcast together called New Heights With Jason & Travis KelceJason Kelce and Travis Kelce on their podcast.

NEW HEIGHTS/YOUTUBE

The Kelce brothers debuted their joint podcast, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, in September 2022. Despite their demanding football schedules, the duo record weekly episodes — between 60 and 90 minutes — discussing their games, trending NFL news and sports headlines.

“It’s been good to just have that set amount of time to be able to just sit down and chat,” Travis told Forbes about their podcast. “It’s like we’re just kicking it at dinner back when we were in high school and college together.”

The brothers have had some of football’s biggest names join them on their podcast, including former New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.