Travis and Jason Kelce weren’t the only members of their family making headlines this week. Their mother, Donna Kelce, was featured in Glamour magazine for their annual Women of the Year cover, which highlighted four special moms: Kelce, Billie Eilish’s mom Maggie Baird, Selena Gomez’s mom Mandy Teefey, and Beyoncé’s mom Tina Lawson.
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Travis and Jason congratulated their mother for the award on the latest episode of their New Heights podcast.
“Mama Kelce has made it to the top,” Travis said. “Those are some top-tier moms right there. Mom, you made [raising us] look easy. Happy as [expletive] for you, mama. Glamour magazine — this is cool and you looked absolutely amazing.”
Donna attended Glamour’s Women of the Year awards — surrounded by a roomful of other iconic women — but she didn’t consider herself a celebrity, even if she is set to appear in an upcoming Hallmark holiday movie.
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“I just gave birth to two celebrities, I’m not one myself,” Donna said.
Being in the spotlight wasn’t something she planned for at all. But that’s difficult when you give birth to two superstars. Not to mention, when one of them also happens to be dating megastar and pop idol Taylor Swift.
“Being in the spotlight wasn’t on my bingo card,” Donna said. “They [Jason and Travis] are kind of like my mentors. If they can do it, I can change and reinvent myself too.”
An emotional Donna teared up during a video call from Travis and Jason at the award ceremony.
“Mama Donna,” Travis said. “She is the most loving, and is just an absolute saint of a human being. I don’t think she’s done any wrong in her life. She just makes life look fun. And I think I’ve always admired that about my mom.”
“Mom always put Trav and I first,” Jason said. “Mom kinda nailed it. If I can be anywhere close to as good a parent as she was, I’ll be doing a good job with my kids.”
But it wasn’t always easy for Donna to raise the Kelce boys. In a group interview she told Glamour that “being a mom is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. It’s so much easier to just go to work,” Donna said. “But raising children, when they’re totally dependent on you and you’re trying to do the best you can with the limited resources that you have, it’s the most daunting task I’ve ever had to do.”
But Jason, who praised his parents for their sacrifices in his retirement speech, said he never realized how hard it was for her as she worked full-time while raising her sons — he just appreciated how easy she made everything for them.
“I thought growing up was pretty easy,” said Jason on New Heights. “Show up. Lunch was packed. Breakfast was made. Free rides everywhere. It was the best.”
Donna exploded in popularity when Jason and Travis competed against one another in Super Bowl LVII, the first brothers ever to do so. She let her personality shine through her Super Bowl outfit — sporting a split jersey of each son’s teams. She also wore a custom jacket with one Eagles shoe and one Kansas City Chiefs shoe.
The iconic outfit sits in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
