By Joyann Jeffrey

Between 13 years in the NFL and raising three kids, Jason and Kylie Kelce are making it work — and still going strong. The couple spoke to TODAY in September 2023 about the “secret” to their six-year marriage.

“We do our absolute best to communicate (with) each other,” Kylie Kelce, née McDevitt, said.

Jason Kelce added, “We’re the most important thing in both of our lives. Everything else takes a back seat.”

He got emotional while speaking about his wife when announcing his retirement from the NFL March 4.

“I think it’s no coincidence I have enjoyed the best years of my career with Kylie by my side,” he said. “Every accolade I have ever received has come with her in my life. She has brought the best out of me with love, devotion, support, honesty, intelligence, and, of course, a swift kick in the a– from time to time.”

Read on to learn more about Jason Kelce’s wife, Kylie McDevitt Kelce, and how their relationship began. (Spoiler: they met on Tinder.)

Who is Kylie McDevitt Kelce?

The 31-year-old is originally from Philadelphia, the city where her husband plays professional football for the Philadelphia Eagles.

After the couple welcomed their first child together, Jason Kelce told reporters that his wife was doing “great,” thanks in part to her family in the area.

“She’s from the area. Both of her parents are here, my parents came in, and she has a lot of friends, family members. She’s not alone by any stretch of the imagination,” he said.

Kylie Kelce attended Cabrini University and graduated in 2017 with a degree in communications. There, she played field hockey.

She captioned a post from her college athlete days by saying, “One of the best decisions I’ve ever made was to become a part of the Cabrini Field Hockey family. The experience gave me memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.”

Today, in addition to supporting Jason Kelce and raising their kids, Kylie Kelcie fundraises for the Eagles Autism Foundation.

How did Kylie and Jason Kelce meet?

Kylie Kelce made her debut on Jason and brother Travis Kelce’s joint podcast “New Heights” in September 2023 and shared their relationship origins.

The couple met on Tinder. Kylie Kelce said she didn’t know who Kelce was, since none of his pictures had photos from the Philadelphia Eagles.

“Well, his profile at the time was something to the effect of: ‘I want to have deep meaningful conversations and talk about getting married and having kids’ or something like that,” she said.

They swiped right and made plans to meet up at a bar. Their first date admittedly didn’t go according to plan, Kylie Kelce said, after Jason Kelce got a bit too tipsy.

“You fell asleep 45 minutes after I got there on the bar table because he was too drunk,” she said.

“Not a good first date,” Jason Kelce replied. Still, he knew what was in front of him: “(I) got a little bit too inebriated, but I was sober enough to know it was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. It was love at first sight,” he said.

Jason Kelce shared more of the meet-cute from his perspective during his retirement speech.

“I still remember the moment she walked through the door. The first instance is burned in my retina,” he continued. “It was like she glided through the opening, an aura around her.”

“Then she started talking and I thought, ‘Man, is this what love feels like?’” he recalled. “She was beautiful and smart, serious yet playful. I knew it right away.

In 2015, Kylie Kelce shared a photo of them with the caption, “Thank goodness you swiped right.”

Jason Kelce was carried home from a bar by a teammate on his first date with Kylie

The first date between the future couple was memorable, but not only because of a romantic connection.

An inebriated Kelce had to be carried home from a bar by Beau Allen, one of his Philadelphia Eagles teammates at the time.

Kelce recalled that night with Allen, 32, on the Feb. 21, 2024 episode of the “New Heights” podcast that also included Chris Long, 38, another one of their Eagles teammates.

Kelce had been excited to make a good first impression on his future wife after the two met on Tinder and talked for a few weeks before finally deciding to get together.

However, the night started with Kelce and his Eagles teammates drinking at the team’s holiday party. It spiraled from there after Jason linked up with Kylie at a bar called Buffalo Billiards in Philadelphia.

“Kelce is like, ‘We’re going to meet up with this girl,’ and I like heard all about her, excited to meet her, and the night just went a little bit sideways,” Allen said. “Kelce fell asleep on the bar, like snoozing.”

“It’s actually not that uncommon,” Kelce said.

“I have kind of a disturbing amount of photos of you just asleep in various places,” Allen said.

Jason was in such rough shape that his teammates had to take him home from the bar on the first night he met Kylie.

Allen, a 6-foot-3, 330-pound nose tackle who retired from the NFL in 2022, picked up the 6-foot-3, 295-pound Kelce and carried him down the cobblestone street outside the bar.

“Kelce, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: That was physically one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Allen said. “That was harder than climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. It was like anaerobic plus aerobic.”

Allen said he did his best to lug Kelce home.

“It’s like cobblestone streets Kelce, and you’re fighting me,” Allen said. “And I’m like straining. I dropped you.”

“I know I was sleeping, but I remember it,” Kelce said. “I remember fighting you and laughing my ass off.”

Kelce asked Allen if he was surprised Kylie granted him a second date after the drunken debacle of the first one.

“I was slightly surprised,” Allen said. “You’re a great guy. You’re charming. Look at that laugh, how can you not want to go on a second date with you?”

Married in 2018, the couple shared their engagement story

In June 2018, Jason and Kylie Kelce got married at the Logan Hotel in Philadelphia, according to Philadelphia Magazine.

While talking about their love story on Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, the couple revealed how they got engaged.

“Let’s be abundantly clear. When he asked me to marry him, he got back in the truck and said, ‘This isn’t the most romantic way to do this,’ and I immediately started crying because I knew what was happening only because he referenced being romantic,” Kylie Kelce recalled with a smile on her face.

On their one-year wedding anniversary, Kylie McDevitt Kelce shared some throwback pictures from their wedding day.

She captioned them, “One year ago today we stood in front of our closest friends and family and vowed our love and commitment to each other. I am so beyond grateful that I get to share my life with this man. Happy one year J!”

She’s a mom to 3 girls

The couple shares daughters Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 2, and Bennett, born in 2023.

In “Kelce,” fans saw Jason Kelce’s brother Travis Kelce holding the newborn in his arms. “Oh hey, girlie,” Travis Kelce said while holding her tight. “Just like a football,” Jason Kelce joked.

Ahead of the football season’s return, McDevitt wrote a heartfelt message to Jason Kelce on Instagram from their point of view.

“This off-season proved yet again how your drive and work ethic are absolutely remarkable. We can’t wait to see the results of that this season. As always, your ladies will be cheering you on every step of the way!”

She supported her husband at the 2022 Super Bowl while pregnant

When the Kelce brothers went head-to-head in the 2022 Super Bowl, Kylie Kelce arrived with a special guest: Her OBGYN.

“Kylie’s bringing her OB because she’s going to be 38 weeks pregnant at the game,” Jason Kelce said on the Feb. 1 episode of the “New Heights” podcast. “That could be a super Kelce bowl. If she has a baby in the stadium, it’s officially scripted.”

Bennett, the couple’s third child, was born Feb. 23, days after the Feb. 12 match.

He later told TODAY, “I was rooting for it to happen at the Super Bowl.”

“I was crossing m legs and fingers trying not to let anything happen,” Kylie Kelce said.

Kylie Kelce likes joking around with her NFL pro brother-in-law

Kylie Kelce is one of the boys. In February, she did an interview with People right before Jason and Travis Kelce squared off at the Super Bowl.

“Being part of the Kelce family right now is very exciting,” she said at the time.

“I, of course, am like, ‘Sorry Travis, we’re not family this week,’” she joked. “But, you know, next week, it’ll be all love again.”

She responded to her husband being named one of People’s Sexiest Men Alive

Jason Kelce was named one of People’s Sexiest Men of the Year in 2023. Kylie Kelce wasn’t surprised: She says she’s known that all along.

“I mean, I knew this. I’ve known this the whole time — this is not news to me,” she joked in an interview with Spectrum News on Nov. 19, 2023. “It’s funny to see those things sort of rolling in because at the end of the day, he’s still tucking in toddlers at the end of the night and getting called in for kid duty.”

She and Taylor Swift have had NFL moments together

Travis Kelce started stepping out with Taylor Swift last September. While Swift went to many games, and was photographed with the Kelce brothers’ parents, it took until January for her and Kylie Kelce to be photographed together.

Swift and Kelce posed with friends and other WAGs when the Kansas City Chiefs faced off against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, New York, on Jan. 21.

Swift’s friend Keleigh Teller shared a TikTok video Jan. 30 of Swift and Kylie Kelce hugging.