The parents, who were married for nearly 25 years, split years after they raised their NFL star sons Donna and Ed Kelce stayed together for the sake of their sons, they say in a new documentary which focuses on their eldest, Jason Kelce.
While the couple eventually split, they reveal in Kelce that they tried to make it work during Jason and younger brother Travis’ childhood — even if the boys were aware something about their parents’ relationship was amiss. “I knew my mom and dad’s situation was different than other parents,” Travis says in the documentary. “I would go have sleepovers at other houses and the other parents are staying in the room, and my parents didn’t stay in the same room.”
He adds, “I started making those connections when I was in middle school and I realized that they were probably gonna split. But they stayed together for me and Jason’s benefit I believe.” But it wasn’t an easy road, Donna and Ed — who were married for nearly 25 years, recall. “If we had split as we probably both would have preferred, that would have been a nightmare with the logistics, getting kids where they had to be and providing all the support,” Ed says in the doc.
Donna looks back on the trying time with a similar perspective. “Just trying to keep it all together when you’re being a parent,” she says. “It’s tough.” The Kelce parents’ sacrifices ultimately paid off for the family — with the both brothers going on to become NFL stars who made history last season when they played one another in the Super Bowl.
During an episode of their New Heights podcast in February, the brothers looked back on their epic season, and agreed the night of the championship was made even more special thanks to their parents. “The moment I saw mom is when I got really emotional because man, it was so awesome,” Jason said. “It was awesome that she was on top of the world for a week.”
“She was the heavyweight champ, man,” Travis added. “She was on top of it, and she shined the whole time, man. That was the coolest part. Mom, you killed it. Dad, you’ve been killing it.”
Before the game, which saw Travis’ Kansas City Chiefs team besting Jason’s Philadelphia Eagles, Ed shared that he was nervous about the outcome. “We’ll try to enjoy it,” he told the Los Angeles Times . “But by 10 o’clock Sunday night, somebody’s brokenhearted and somebody’s celebrating. We’ll deal with that the best we can when it happens.”
During his appearance on his sons’ podcast before the Super Bowl, Travis asked Ed which of them he would speak to first after the game. “Probably the loser,” he said, explaining, “Somebody’s gonna feel pretty crummy and I wanna be with him — initially.”
