As Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s romance dominates headlines, intrigue around the Kansas City Chiefs star’s parents, Ed and Donna Kelce, has begun to grow.
Fans went wild for Donna as she was spotted rubbing elbows with the pop superstar in a VIP box during her son’s Sept. 24 and Oct. 1 games.
The mom of two — whose other son, Jason Kelce, plays for the Philadelphia Eagles — has attempted to remain tight-lipped on the romance, however, she’s addressed the pandemonium a few times.
On Oct. 6, Donna said meeting Swift for the first time at the games was “OK.”
“I don’t like to talk about it. It’s just one of those things where everyone saw me,” Donna said, adding, “I was in the boxes with her. It’s another thing that’s amped up my life.”
During a separate podcast interview, Donna admitted, “It’s something I never thought I’d be involved with.”
The dedicated NFL mom also kept tight-lipped about her interactions with Swift while appearing on the third hour of the “Today” show with Craig Melvin.
“I’ll never tell you!” she laughed when Melvin asked her to give insight into her conversations with the “Folklore” singer.
She did, however, reveal she explained a technical football fact to Swift at one point.
Learn more about Jason and Travis’ parents, Donna and Ed Kelce, below.
How did Donna and Ed Kelce meet?
Donna revealed during a February 2023 episode of Travis and Jason’s “New Heights” podcast that she met Ed while at a popular Cleveland, Ohio, bar called Fagans.
“He came up to me with the illustrious pickup line, which was, ‘Did you say Joe?’ And I said, ‘No.’ And he said, ‘Oh I thought you said Joe.’ I said, ‘Is your name Joe?’ And he said, ‘No, it’s Ed,'” she recalled with a smile on her face.
She also admitted that Ed’s pickup line caused her to miss another date.
“I was supposed to go out with a guy that night. We were supposed to go to a play and I never made it,” she admitted. “Your dad and I talked forever … It was meant to be. It’s just the way it was.”
Are Donna and Ed still together?
Donna and Ed were married for more than 20 years and divorced after their NFL star sons graduated from the University of Cincinnati.
Despite their divorce, Donna is adamant that she still has major respect for her ex-husband.
“We’re friends to this day. We get along great,” she said on “New Heights.” “We were like a tag team with you two. We got to do all sorts of fun things. When one of you had to go out of town, the other person would help with the other child. It was perfect.”
Ed shared a similar sentiment in the 2023 documentary “Kelce.”
“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 detailed, per Today.
Donna had a fruitful career
Donna and Ed hustled to give their sons everything they needed to become the successful professional athletes they are today.
Donna — who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in communications from Ohio University — was a working mom with two kids and two degrees.
She landed her first post-collegiate job at Bank One as an equity writer in 1981, and then put herself through a master’s program, according to her linkedIn page.
In 1983, she graduated from Baldwin Wallace University with her Master of Business Administration.
After serving more than 22 years at Bank One, Donna was named the vice president at Key Community Development Corporation.
She went on to become the senior vice president at Truist before retiring in 2021.
Ed enjoyed a varied career
Ed was raised in Collinwood, a historical part of Cleveland.
“Blue collar town, blue collar part of Cleveland, great neighborhood,” he recalled of his childhood on “New Heights.” “It was a lot of fun.”
Ed originally enrolled at Ohio State University after high school but stayed for about a “quarter and a half” before running out of money and returning home.
He also attended Cuyahoga Community College and Cleveland State University, but did not graduate.
He began working in a lab to analyze samples in a steel factory and eventually became a sales representative to steel manufacturers.
“I’d take them there — hard hat, safety glasses, boots, the whole nine yards,” Ed recalled about bringing his kids to work in a February 2023 Los Angeles Times profile. “I’d tell them, ‘You can have a job like your mother’s, or you can have a job like mine.'”
He also worked part-time at a candy store around the holidays to help support his family.
Ed revealed his original plan was to join the Marines, but a knee injury from high school kept him out of both the Marines and the Army and battling Crohn’s disease ended his Coast Guard aspirations.
Ed coached Travis and Jason growing up
Ed revealed on “New Heights” that he, Travis and Jason would play a ball rolling game on the floor when they were toddlers.
“That’s where it all started, and this is where we’re at today,” he proudly stated.
When they were kids, the involved father built Travis and Jason a “mini stick arena” in their basement and a “sports complex” in their backyard, which the brothers remembered fondly on their podcast.
Ed admitted the basement suffered many broken windows thanks to the hockey arena.
In addition to making their home a sports haven, Ed also coached his sons in tee-ball and baseball.
“I didn’t like you being on the team where you were the stud,” Ed explained. “I wanted you on a team where you had to work harder.”
Donna made her sons wait to play football
Hockey was Travis and Jason’s first love.
“They both had the hockey dream,” Donna told the New York Post in January 2023. “That was what they wanted to play. They were on skates for most of their life from the age of 3 and up.”
And although they both expressed interest in football, the protective mother revealed she made them wait until middle school to start playing.
“I wouldn’t let them do that. Nobody ever says, ‘I was the best peewee football player ever,” Donna explained. “And it’s not very well organized. So there’s always suspect to parents and injuries and things like that.”
She added, “They’re not really trained coaches, so I made them wait until they were in middle school to play football. They played seventh and eighth grade.”
Donna and Ed are grandparents to three children
Donna and Ed became grandparents in 2019 when Travis and his wife, Kylie, welcomed their eldest daughter, Wyatt.
They have since added two more girls, Elliotte and Bennett, to their family.
Donna’s grandchildren influenced who she was rooting for in historic Super Bowl LVII
Super Bowl LVII was one for the history books — and another proud moment for the Kelce family.
The February 2023 game marked the first time two brothers faced off for the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy when the Philadelphia Eagles played the Kansas City Chiefs.
The game was dubbed the “Kelce Bowl” by some thrilled fans.
Donna hinted that she chose to root for Jason in the big game over Travis because he gave her grandchildren.
“I think that Jason would say that I’m going to root for the baby of the family, which is Travis, and I keep trying to tell him, ‘No, you’ve given me grandchildren,'” she reasoned on “Today” ahead of the game. “So, we’ll leave it at that. It’s always about the grands!”
In all seriousness, she said being involved in the history-making game is “so awesome.”
“Obviously, there’s gonna be somebody that’s gonna go home heartbroken, they’re not gonna have bragging rights at the Thanksgiving table, but this is gonna be an awesome event and I’m really looking forward to it,” Donna stated.
She later added, “They’ve already got the first win under their belts, so this is going to be pure joy.”
The Chiefs won the game, giving Travis his second Super Bowl title. His first came in 2019 with the Chiefs against the Oakland Raiders. Jason won his first title with the Eagles in 2018 against the New England Patriots.
Where do Donna and Ed live now?
Ed relocated to the suburbs of Philadelphia in early 2020 to be closer to Jason, Kylie, and their three kids, per his Los Angeles Times profile.
He lives just a mile away from their nine-acre farm that features four 100-foot raised vegetable beds, where he likes to grow produce and donate extras to underprivileged families.
Donna lives in Orlando, Fla., per Time. However, she travels to great lengths to make sure she can watch her sons play.
Donna traveled 1,300 miles in one day to watch both her sons’ playoff games
Donna is a truly dedicated football mom. On Jan. 22, 2022, she made it her mission to watch both of her sons’ NFL wild-card games and successfully watched the Eagles take on the Buccaneers in Tampa, Fla., and then flew to Kansas City, Mo., to watch the Chiefs play the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The NFL documented her long journey on Twitter — including when she surprised Travis at the post-game news conference by virtually asking him what it was like to throw his first NFL touchdown.
Donna has a special bracelet she dons at each NFL game
Ahead of the historic “Kelce Bowl,” Donna revealed she has a lucky bracelet from her mother.
“She passed this year. She always wore it for games, so I’m wearing it now. I wore it all season,” she revealed to People in February 2023.
She explained that the Pandora bracelet has two special charms.
“One is for the Eagles and one for the Chiefs; one red and one green,” she noted.
Ed goes to his sons’ games as well
Although Donna is one of the most beloved NFL football moms and is often photographed cheering on her sons at their games, she is not the only Kelce parent who can be seen on the sidelines of any given Eagles or Chiefs game.
“We each try to be at one of the games,” Ed told the LA Times. “Divide and conquer.”
Are Donna and Ed Taylor Swift fans?
Donna seemingly gave Swift her stamp of approval after she reposted a fan video on Oct. 3 that showed them hugging while rooting for the Chiefs during their game against the Jets.
“Travis Kelce’s biggest fans [heart emoji],” the caption read.
She revealed “Shake It Off” is her favorite song by the world-touring artist during an interview with the “Got It From My Momma” podcast.
Moreover, a source claimed Donna thinks Swift is “very sweet and down to earth.”
Ed, however, has remained tight-lipped about the entire situation.
