Jason Kelce shouting down the mic, Travis stumbling over his words… and a hilarious story about castrating a bull! Flashback to the first EVER episode of New Heights – before it became the world’s BIGGEST podcast

When Travis and Jason Kelce started the New Heights podcast in September 2022, they probably had no idea how big the program would become.

As the podcast’s name suggests, the Kelce brothers’ weekly talk show enjoyed incredible success, becoming the largest sports podcast in the world in less than two years. But like anyone trying a new venture, the Kelces weren’t always as comfortable on the mic as they are today.

The New Heights pilot was obviously like the trial and error process that it was. The first episode – which currently has just over 340,000 views on YouTube – was a stuttering and eardrum-shredding experience. To uncover the glue for their brotherhood and respective fan bases, the Kelces followed a twelve-question format to structure their conversation.

The rest, as they say, was history.

“Welcome to New Heights,” Travis said as he opened the first-ever show, smiling in his Cincinnati Bearcats baseball jersey as he rubbed his palms together. ‘An original Jukes show presented by Wave Sports and Entertainment.’

At that point, both Kelces had won a Super Bowl and were no strangers to the bright lights. But the microphones and cameras around the NFL shone differently than those of their latest venture. While Travis seemed to be holding back his laughter, Jason looked stoic as he nodded through his younger brother’s intro.

After laying out their football accolades, Travis choppily explained the premise of the program.

“New Heights is our new talk show, where we give you next-level access to the NFL,” Travis stuttered. “From Philly all the way to Kansas City.”

“We’ve been talking about this for a while,” Jason said. “So I’m excited to finally get to work on this.”

The Eagles star explained how she and the producers agreed to ask twelve questions in honor of their twelve combined Pro Bowl selections. As Jason tried to get the Q&A going, Travis interrupted to break down the title.

Travis explained that “New Heights” had two meanings.

“Obviously me and my brother are venturing into a new world, into a new playing field, which is on microphone and camera. We show our personality, show our dynamics and we thought it would be fun to show that to you,” Travis said.

‘Moreover, we are very proud of where we come from. From Cleveland Heights, Ohio,” Travis continued. “We even have some ties with Jukes and Wave Sports, both industry-wide and in Cleveland.”

“Anytime we get to represent the Heights, it’s always something we try to do,” Jason added.

The conversation took several turns as their answers ventured beyond their football world. While asked about the highlight of his offseason, Jason shared that not only did he learn to talk, but his daughter Eliotte also castrated a bull during a trip to Missouri.

“You have to do branding and also castrate the ones you don’t keep like bulls,” Jason said. “So I had to castrate my first bull, which was difficult.”

“I had my granola crunch walking boots on while I was knuckle deep in this bull’s hole.”

The brothers raised decibels, with smiles on their faces, as Travis tuned out of Jason explaining the castration methods.

“You asked me what I did this offseason,” Jason exclaimed, red in the face. “It was the highlight of my offseason.”

The shouting resumed as Jason described the moment he played against Ray Lewis for the first time. He admitted he was curious about what it would feel like to play against people he idolized before entering the league.

“Middle of the play,” he shouted as Travis laughed on the other half of the screen. “Not only am I doing my assignment, but I’m thinking, ‘Holy shit, I’m blocking Ray Lewis.’

Like much of the episode, the end saw the brothers talking about the NFL while discussing their upcoming seasons. Jalen Hurts and Andy Reid were mentioned in the hour-long conversation before comparing Super Bowl rings in the final segment.

A year later, the podcast got bigger when Travis started dating pop star Taylor Swift. During an episode last summer, the three-time Super Bowl winner admitted that he didn’t give Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number.

Nevertheless, the pair started dating in September 2023 and dominated headlines in the NFL.

The relationship added a new layer to their conversations as they continued to provide their weekly overview of all things NFL. The podcast became something fans waited for every Wednesday, especially in light of Travis’ most recent Super Bowl win with the Chiefs.

New Heights is now number one on the Spotify and Apple sports podcast charts. More importantly, Jason said the weekly talk show has brought him and his brother closer together.

Jason admitted that before starting the program, he and Travis hadn’t had much contact since college.

“It was fun to do it another year and talk to my brother,” Kelce said. “I haven’t been this connected to Travis in the past two years since college.”

“And that was one of the best things, probably the best, about the podcast. It forces us – because we are brothers, before we would be alone for months without talking. We texted, sent a funny video, but to actually sit down and talk to him would take a long time.”