Penn State Police investigating viral incident with Jason Kelce and fan
Penn State University Police and Public Safety is investigating the incident involving Jason Kelce that saw the former NFL star throw a heckler’s phone onto the ground after the person said a homophobic slur to Kelce in referring to his brother.
Penn State Police spokesperson Jacqueline Sheader confirmed the investigation to USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday afternoon and added the process is ongoing.
The incident, which took place just outside Beaver Stadium on Saturday as Penn State hosted Ohio State, was reported by university police. According to the police department’s daily crime log, an ‘officer observed a visitor damaging personal property’ outside of the stadium. The offenses were criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.
Social media footage showed Kelce walking through a crowd while several people acknowledged him and asked for selfies. However, one person hurled anti-LGTBQ slurs toward Kelce about his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
‘Hey Kelce! How does it feel your brother is a (expletive) for dating Taylor Swift?’ the person shouted.
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
Kelce turned around, grabbed the person’s phone and spiked it into the ground before picking up the phone and continuing to walk. Another video shared on social media showed the fan chasing Kelce and saying ‘give me my phone.’ Kelce then appeared to say the same slur back toward the person.
The former Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro center and current ESPN analyst apologized for his role in the incident prior to the Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on Monday night. He said he ‘fell down to a level that I shouldn’t have.’
‘Everybody’s seen on social media everything that took place this week,’ Kelce said. ‘Listen, I’m not happy with anything that took place. I’m not proud of it. In a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that that’s a productive thing.’
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
