Skip to content
Eagles
Link copied to clipboard
Link copied to clipboard

Eagles lineman Jason Kelce sets the record straight about his last name. Sort of.

"I probably inherited a little bit of my dad’s laziness with how you pronounce it," Jason Kelce said during an interview on WIP.

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce planted a kiss on the cheek of his brother, Eagles center Jason Kelce (right), as they exchanged jerseys after a 2017 game.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce planted a kiss on the cheek of his brother, Eagles center Jason Kelce (right), as they exchanged jerseys after a 2017 game.Read moreDAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer
    by Rob Tornoe
    Updated 
    Published 

If you haven’t been on the internet in the past 24 hours, don’t worry — you’re still pronouncing Jason Kelce’s name correctly.

Sort of.

The Eagles center appeared on 94.1 WIP Thursday morning to clarify claims made by his younger brother, Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, that fans, announcers, and teammates have all been pronouncing their last name incorrectly.

“My brother and I have gone by ‘Kel-see’ our entire lives,” Jason Kelce said during the interview.

However, he added that the rest of his family pronounces their last name “Kelss” and that the “Kel-see” pronunciation began when his father failed to correct his coworkers at a steel mill in Cleveland.

» READ MORE: Eagles fans will hear a familiar voice in the booth this season on FOX

“We’ve gotten plenty of messages and texts since becoming NFL players from extended family members all over the world saying, ‘You’re pronouncing the name wrong!’ So, yeah, that’s the story,” Jason Kelce said. “We would honestly go by either one, but I prefer ‘Kel-see’ just because that’s the way I’ve said it my entire life and the way our side of the family has said it.”

“You prefer ‘Kel-see.’ But you won’t argue with ‘Kelss?’ ” WIP host Jon Ritchie asked. “Because that’s technically the correct pronunciation by whomever.”

“No,” Kelce responded. “And I probably inherited a little bit of my dad’s laziness with how you pronounce it. I’m probably just like, ‘Yeah, whatever, that’s close enough.’”

The whole issue of how to pronounce Kelce became a hot topic Wednesday after a clip from a December 2020 episode of the Barstool Sports podcast Bussin’ with the Boys resurfaced on social media. The clip featured Travis Kelce casually saying the name has been mispronounced all these years.

“My real name is ‘Kelss,’ so I mean, I just kind of roll with the punches,” he said during the interview.

The revelation appeared to stun teammates, including Ty Hill and Patrick Mahomes.

“You learn something new everyday,” Mahomes wrote on Twitter.

Travis Kelce’s claim appeared to be bolstered by Howard Kuntz, a sports anchor for the FOX affiliate in Kansas City, who dug up a clip from the 2020 AFC championship game featuring him discussing the pronunciation.

But other videos also surfaced of Travis Kelce emphasizing that “e” at the end of his name.