Jason Kelce sorry for reacting with ‘hate’ after homophobic slur directed at brother

Jason Kelce has apologized after reacting angrily to a confrontation with a fan prior to Ohio State’s game with Penn State this weekend.

A video emerged in which the fan asked Kelce: “How does it feel that your brother [Travis] is a fag because he’s dating Taylor Swift? Kelce then appeared to grab the fan’s phone, slam him to the ground and say, “Who’s that faggot now?”

Kelce was at Penn State as part of ESPN’s broadcast of their game with Ohio State. On Monday, he was part of ESPN’s coverage of the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and spoke about the weekend’s incident.

“I’m not happy with what happened. I’m not proud of it,” Kelce said. “In a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that’s a productive thing. No way. I don’t think this will lead to any discussion and that it is the right way to go about things. At that point I dropped to a level I shouldn’t have.”

Travis Kelce has been in a high-profile relationship with Swift for a year and co-hosts a hugely popular podcast with Jason, who retired at the end of last season after 13 years with the Philadelphia Eagles. Swift was also at the Chiefs game on Monday night to watch Travis.

“I think the bottom line is I try to live my life by the golden rule,” Jason Kelce said Monday. “That’s what I was always taught. I try to treat people with common decency and respect, and I will continue to do so in the future, even though I fell short this week. I will do that in the future.”

In August the Kelce brothers signed a three-year, $100 million deal with Wondery for their New Heights podcast.