Once a football mom, always a football mom. Just ask Donna Kelce. Whether it’s peewee football or the Super Bowl, nothing satisfies a football player’s appetite like Mom’s home-baked cookies.
During a live interview for Super Bowl opening night with Michael Irvin of the NFL Network on Feb. 6, the football mom appeared suddenly, surprising her boys — NFL stars Travis and Jason Kelce — mid-interview with two batches of homemade cookies, one for each son.
“It’s just been amazing that they’ve both been able to get to this point in their careers and both enjoy the Super Bowl together,” Donna Kelce said in the interview. “It’s just so amazing.”
This is the first time in Super Bowl history that two brothers have faced each other on opposing teams. Ohio natives Travis (Kansas City Chiefs tight end) and Jason (Philadelphia Eagles center) have been playing football since they were in high school, and raising two competitive boys in one house was no walk in the park.
“It’s a lot of broken windows, a lot of, you know, crashes, a lot of fighting … and Travis was always the one that was the instigator because he wanted his brother’s attention,” Donna told Sports Illustrated in September 2020, reminiscing about what it was like to raise two football players. “There were a lot of punches thrown. It all just stemmed from somebody being better than the other one, and the other one not being able to deal with it.”
The competition between the two Kelce brother is so strong that Donna wondered if Travis would be envious when Jason won the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018. (Travis won his own Super Bowl the following year, playing for the 49ers.)
“It was always a competition between the two of them, and that still has not gone away,” she said to SI, reflecting on whether Travis would be jealous as he watched his older brother celebrate his Super Bowl win.
But it turns out that there is more to the Kelce family than just a shared love of football: There is also just shared love for each other.
As he watched Jason Kelce and his team take the win, Travis only had this to say to his mom:
“I hope my brother stays this happy for the rest of his life.”
No doubt hearing these words ignited more motherly pride in Donna than any Super Bowl win ever could. So it is no wonder she can’t help but bake cookies for her big boys as they look forward to the game of their lives.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories.
