No other pair of brothers in the world has benefited from 2023 like the Kelces have.
The 34-year-old Travis was already known to NFL fans, well before his romance with Taylor Swift began in September, having won two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs in the last five years, including this year’s Big Game in February.
On the other hand, the 36-year-old Jason has always proven to be the least popular of the duo, despite lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy only a year before his little brother did for the first time, in 2019.
Positioning is largely to blame for that, as Travis plays tight end – one of the most important positions in offense – while his older brother is a veteran center of 13 seasons for the Eagles. Nonetheless, both have received plaudits for their style of play over the last 12 months, with Jason being considered as an MVP candidate this season, while Travis became the fastest tight end, and the fifth in NFL history, to reach 10,000 career receiving yards.
Outside of football, the Kelces have been the center of popular culture in America, with Travis appearing on SNL several times this year, while Jason released another Christmas album that crashed Billboard charts. Both brothers are also co-host of the podcast, New Heights, which exponentially grew this year, as its name suggests.
Here, DailyMail.com recaps an incredible year for the Kelce brothers – and looks at what happened to propel them to superstardom.
Travis (L) and Jason (R) Kelce have been football’s funniest and most successful duo in 2023
The brothers have been the talk of US mainstream culture since Feb (seen with mom, Donna)
Jason and Travis received plaudits for both their on-field and off-field achievements this year
Played each other in Super Bowl LVII
Let’s start with the major sporting event that fueled Jason and Travis’ rise to fame, 10 months ago: Super Bowl LVII.
The Kelce Bros. made NFL history in February when they went head to head with the Eagles and Chiefs in The Game of Games, which was dubbed the ‘Kelce Bowl’ by some fans.
The occasion marked the first time that two brothers have ever played against each other on opposing teams in the 57 years since the Super Bowl began.
‘It’s wild, and kind of surreal,’ said Travis, prior to the game. ‘For it all to align like it has, it’s mind-boggling… It’s a special moment. It’s something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.’
To make sure there was no animosity before and after the contest, Jason and Travis’ mom, Donna, was in the stands at State Farm Stadium – home of the Cardinals – in Glendale, Arizona, and she stole the show with her split jacket showing off both of her sons’ teams, just like a proud ‘mama would.
Anyhow, it’s no secret that Travis and the Chiefs came out on top against Jason’s Eagles in a closely contested affair (38-35), though both men were snapped embracing one another and hanging out postgame, just like tight-knit brothers would.
The siblings are the first two brothers to have ever played against each other in a Super Bowl
Co-host the No. 1 sports podcast in the world on Spotify
In a year full of honors for his achievements on the gridiron, Travis managed to share one with his ‘big bro’ Jason for perhaps their biggest off-field contribution: their ‘New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce’ podcast.
The NFL’s funniest family duo team up weekly to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds, including stories on growing up together, other players, and their respective families. From time to time, the podcast also has special guests, like celebrity Eagles fans Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson.
Other than being crowned as Spotify’s No. 1 sports podcast globally, the Kelces are also the No. 3 most-followed overall show on Apple Podcasts, behind ‘Huberman Lab’ and ‘SmartLess.’
The streaming notoriety comes alongside Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce’s girlfriend, being named Spotify’s most listened-to artist of the year. Although the pop star has yet to appear on the Kelce brothers’ podcast, she has been mentioned before on the show.
‘New Heights’ was also the top sports podcast in America and the top American football podcast in the US, per Spotify.
Jason & Travis also saw their show, ‘New Heights’, jump to the top of Spotify’s sports podcast
Dating a pop icon, and family expansion
Perhaps (okay, definitely!) the biggest reason for Travis’ rise to the top of mainstream culture is his three-month-old relationship with Taylor Swift.
In September, he publicly courted her to go on a date with him before the start of the 2023 NFL season, after she snubbed him backstage at one of her concerts in Kansas City over the summer. The rest, since then, is common knowledge… but it seems that at age 34, both parties are getting serious, with Travis considering to ask Taylor’s hand in marriage next year.
What’s more, Travis and Taylor’s highly publicized relationship has had a considerable impact on NFL viewership (and technically, it still does); the Chiefs-Bears game, which Swift attended, drew the most TV viewers of the weekend, while sales of Kelce’s jersey and Chiefs home game tickets have surged.
The NFL and NBC have also used the couple’s romance for social media content to promote subsequent games. A Chiefs-Jets games that Swift attended averaged 27 million viewers, making it the most-watched Sunday night TV show since Super Bowl LVII – a full circle moment.
Jason, the least popular of the two brothers, expanded his family to five, after he and his wife, Kylie, welcomed their third daughter, Bennett Llewellyn Kelce, in February.
Kylie was 38 weeks pregnant with the couple’s third child at the time of Super Bowl LVII.
Travis’ rise to fame not only has to do with football but also with Taylor Swift (pictured in Dec.)
Meanwhile, Jason and his wife, Kylie, grew their tribe to three daughters before the Super Bowl
Jason named among People’s Sexiest Man Alive contenders, while Travis expands into fashion
You heard that right, folks… Jason Kelce, who sports a full beard with fuzzy short hair, was a surprise finalist for People magazine’s ultimate annual prize for men, alongside actors Patrick Dempsey, Pedro Pascal and Thimothee Chalamet, and pop stars like Usher, Jamie Foxx and Lenny Kravitz.
Surprised by the nomination himself, the Eagles center hilariously promised a period of ‘self reflection’ after missing out on the title, as Dempsey scooped the prize.
Appearing as an analyst, he was once introduced as the ‘sexiest man in the NFL’ on Amazon’s Prime ‘Thursday Night Football’ broadcast of the Bears-Panthers game in October – and producers even mocked up a cover with his face on it – which led to Kelce dropping some jokes.
‘Listen, I don’t know how this all happened, but it’s honestly just another day,’ Kelce said, adding that his wife ‘tells me all the time I’m the sexiest man in the world, so I’ve been wondering what’s been taking so long for this nomination to happen.’
Wise words there, Jason. Meanwhile, Travis launched his own clothing line, called True Kolors, before facing his older brother in a rematch of this year’s Super Bowl game in November. He’s collaborated with the Chiefs to design apparel in the past.
Jason was named one of People’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ finalists but lost out to Patrick Dempsey
The race to Super Bowl LVIII, with Jason being tipped as NFL MVP
The outcome that every NFL fan is waiting for… Who will make it to this year’s Super Sunday in Las Vegas on February 11, 2024?
Well, both the Chiefs and Eagles have a solid shot at clashing heads once again at Allegiant Stadium, as they both rank among the top five teams in the AFC and NFC, respectively, despite their sudden dip in form.
On Sunday, the AFC West-leading Chiefs (9-5) ended their two-game skid against the New England Patriots to thrill Swift and her fans in the crowd at Gillette Stadium, but still find themselves staring up at the Miami Dolphins (10-4) and Baltimore (11-3) in the conference’s playoff picture with three regular-season games to go.
On the other hand, the slumping Eagles slid from 10-1 and the top of the NFC to 10-4 and fighting for a division title amid a three-game losing streak. A streak in which they failed to score more than 19 points. A streak that forced coach Nick Sirianni to change the defensive coaching staff. A streak that all but knocked the Eagles out of a shot at earning the NFC’s No. 1 seed and a first-round playoff bye.
Both Jason and Travis, are trying to reach Super Bowl LVIII in what would be back-to-back appearances
The Eagles have a three-game stretch that includes two games against the New York Giants (5-9) and one against the Arizona Cardinals (3-11). Win them all, and the team is crowned the NFC East champs’ for a second year straight. Lose, and people’s jobs may be at risk…
Quarterback Jalen Hurts may be one of several favorites to be crowned the league’s most valuable player for this season, along with Brock Purdy and Lamar Jackson, but NFL analyst Jason Whitlock believes the award should go to Jason.
Among his reasons for Kelce to win the award is his key role in the ‘tush push’ – the Eagles’ unstoppable play they deploy in third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 situations to gain yardage, and potentially score touchdowns.