“Now that he’s not playing, he can finally let his hair down,” Donna Kelce tells PEOPLE of her son Jason of the Philadelphia Eagles
A shirtless Jason Kelce shocked the internet — but for Donna Kelce, it was just another day with her son.
While chatting about her latest partnership with Ibotta, the beloved NFL mom shared with PEOPLE her initial reaction to her eldest son’s stripping “antics” during the Kansas City Chiefs-Buffalo Bills playoff game on Sunday.
When asked if she was surprised when Jason stripped off his shirt and jumped into the stands to celebrate brother Travis Kelce’s touchdown, Donna — without hesitation — tells PEOPLE: “No, not at all. No.”
That’s because the Philadelphia Eagles center has “done it on occasion,” the football mom explains, citing the parade as another example of when Jason went topless. “He just saves it for special moments,” she says with a laugh.
Donna explained why her son’s shirt-removing gesture — followed by his decision to jump out of the suite to join the “Bills Mafia” in the stands — might’ve come as a surprise to many, but not herself or his wife Kylie.
“A lot of people don’t see it because he’s all business nine times out of 10 when he is on the field,” Donna shares. “He’s so focused with the game and he’s so into it that people don’t see that side of him.”
Meanwhile, the mom of two says he’s “just as lighthearted and as fun and as in the moment as Travis is” off the field. “It’s just, he is more businesslike when it comes to football.”
Since the Philadelphia Eagles were eliminated from the playoffs after losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Jan. 15, Donna says that Jason “can finally let his hair down” now that he’s not playing. “It’s a long season that you have to behave yourself,” she adds.
Echoing what Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said of Travis’ big bro’s enthusiastic, shirtless support, Donna says “Jason’s just being Jason.” She explains, “This is who he is. He is bigger than life, no doubt about it!”
Jason, himself, gave fans a play-by-play of his shirtless moment at Highmark Stadium when chatting with Travis on Wednesday’s episode of their Wave Sports + Entertainment podcast New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. “I wanted to take everything off and be out there with the fans,” he revealed of his mindset on Sunday.
Donna tells PEOPLE that she often uses her sons’ podcast as a form of “group chat” with her boys, revealing that the three of them “don’t” have a texting group chat of their own. “I talk to them individually or when we’re all together, which isn’t often.”
“But when we are all together, as we were in Buffalo, you get to laugh and have a good time and joke around and I just sit back and watch because it’s so much fun to watch your kids interact,” says Donna. “And I think that’s true of any parent. It’s just so much fun to watch the love between siblings and I think that’s how they’re relatable. It’s just, it’s a family.”
Now, Donna is teaming up with Ibotta to help other families across the country save money on everyday expenses. “I wish I would’ve had this when the kids were little. It’s really expensive when you have young athletes going through their different sports,” she says.
“I think this is a great tool for moms,” she says of the free cash back app.
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