Ed and Donna Kelce rose to mainstream popularity for being parents to one of the most popular and accomplished football brothers in the NFL — Travis Kelce and his older brother Jason Kelce. The former ranks among the greatest tight ends in NFL history. He plays for the Kansas City Chiefs and has won the Super Bowl thrice with the team. Jason Kelce, on the other hand, spent all of his 13-year career in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles. Also considered one of the greatest centers of all time, he is a Super Bowl champion and a seven-time Pro Bowler.
The brothers are very fond of their parents and have often acknowledged their support and contributions towards their illustrious careers. When the older Kelce announced his retirement on March 4, 2024, he tearfully reminisced about Donna becoming an NFL mom, asserting she’s “a representative for all moms out there who have sacrificed so much for their children.” Ed and Donna Kelce made history at Super Bowl LVII in February 2023 when they became the first parents to have their sons compete against each other in the Super Bowl.
Family Background Of Ed And Donna Kelce
Jason and Travis Kelce’s father, Ed Kelce, hails from a military family in Collinwood, Cleveland, where he was raised alongside a younger sibling. Ed played high school football and attended Ohio State University for a while. Without completing his college education, he decided to join the military like many of his relatives. But then, the Army and the Marines rejected him due to a knee injury he sustained from playing high school football.
Ed joined the Coast Guard at some point but dropped out due to challenges with Crohn’s disease. He eventually settled for a career in the steel industry as a sales rep. His ex-wife, Donna Kelce née Blalock, was also raised in Cleveland, alongside a younger brother named Donald Blalock. When Donna lost her mom at age 12, her father got married to her stepmom, Mary Llewellyn Blalock. In an episode of her children’s podcast, New Heights, Donna described Mary as a “wonderful human being.”
“(She) raised Don and I… If we didn’t have her, I don’t think we would have made it through,” said the NFL mom. Being a teacher, Mary valued education. She inspired Donna to pursue a college education against her father’s desire for her to attend secretarial school. Donna graduated from Ohio University with a degree in broadcast communications but opted to pursue a career in banking.
The Pair Met While Donna Was Heading To A Date With Another Man
Ed and Donna Kelce’s love story began with a chance encounter on a day the latter was out to meet another man for a date. Recalling how they met on her sons’ podcast, Donna divulged that Ed approached her with an illustrious pickup line at Fagan’s, a popular bar in Cleveland. “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,'” Donna narrated.
“I was supposed to go out with a guy that night. We were supposed to go to a play, and I never made it. Your dad and I talked forever,” she told her sons. Ed recalled he was covered with dirt from work the night he met Donna. “I’m in coveralls that are covered in cement. We started talking, and she gave me a ride home…” He had a quick shower and took Donna to another bar, where they spent more time together, marking the beginning of their relationship.
Ed and Donna Kelce Were Married For 25 Years
The former couple wedded sometime in the late 70s and began building their family in the late 80s. They had their first son, Jason Kelce, in November 1987, with Travis joining the family nearly two years later. Ed and Donna Kelce raised their sons in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where they attended Cleveland Heights High School. They both proceeded to the University of Cincinnati after high school and were part of the school’s football program. Ed and Donna were already experiencing friction in their marriage at this point. However, they chose to remain together and support their sons through college.
In Kelce, a Prime Video documentary about Jason Kelce’s career and family life, the former couple admitted they prolonged their marriage for the sake of their sons. “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 explained. Commenting on that, Travis stated in the documentary that Ed and Donna Kelce’s situation was different from other parents. “I would go have sleepovers at other houses… other parents are staying in the room, and my parents didn’t stay in the same room,” he said.
“I started making those connections when I was in middle school,” Travis continued, “and I realized that they were probably gonna split. But they stayed together for me and Jason’s benefit…” Even though the pair divorced over a decade ago, they are on good terms and effortlessly get along. They continue to support their sons and are proud grandparents to three granddaughters, the kids Jason has with his wife, Kylie McDevitt. Check out five things you didn’t know about Travis Kelce.
