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Penn State Police Still Haven’t Identified Fan Who Heckled Jason Kelce
Campus police still have not identified the man who heckled Jason Kelce before the Penn State football game against Ohio State last weekend.
The man, who wore a Penn State hockey sweatshirt, was heard taunting Jason, 37, outside of Beaver Stadium as the former Philadelphia Eagle made his way through a crowd of fans.
“Hey, Kelce. How does it feel your brother’s a f—– dating Taylor Swift?” the person asked, referring to Jason’s brother Travis while using a homophobic slur.
The heckler’s sweatshirt led some to speculate he was a member of the Nittany Lions’ hockey team, but the team was on the road in Minnesota when the incident occurred.
Video showed Jason grabbing the heckler’s phone and throwing it to the ground as Jason directed the same slur back at the unruly fan.
To date, no one has come forward to report their personal property being damaged, a university spokesperson told TMZ Sports. An officer did report the incident, however, and it appears in the Penn State University crime log as “officer observed a visitor damaging personal property.”
Us Weekly confirmed on Monday that police are investigating the incident and the process is ongoing.
Jason apologized for his choice of words during ESPN’s Monday Night Football pregame show on Monday.
“In a heated moment, I decided to greet hate with hate,” Kelce said on the broadcast. “I fell short this week.”
He elaborated on the latest episode of his and Travis’ “New Heights” podcast.
“Me reacting gave him the time of day and it also gave the situation notoriety. That’s what I regret,” he said. “It didn’t deserve attention, it’s really stupid. And if I just keep walking it’s a nothing burger, nobody sees it. Now it’s out there and it just perpetuates more hate.”
He continued, “The thing that I regret the most is saying that word, to be honest with you, and the word he used is just f—ing ridiculous. And it takes it to another level. It’s just off the wall, f—ing over the line. It’s dehumanizing and it got under my skin and it elicited a reaction. In the heat of the moment, I thought, ‘Hey, what can I say back to him? I’m gonna throw this s— right back into his face. F— him.’ I know now that I shouldn’t have done that, because now there’s a video out there with me saying that word, him saying that word, and it’s not good for anybody.”
For his part, Travis, 35, defended his brother for sticking up for him.
“You reacted in a way that was defending your family, and you might’ve used some words that you regret using,” he said. “And that’s a situation you’ve just got to learn from and own. I think you owning it and you speaking about it shows how sincere you are to a lot of people in this world. … You don’t choose hate, that’s just not who you are. I love you brother, I think you said that perfectly.”