In their hometown of Cleveland Heights, Eagles center Jason Kelce and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce have already made history – but on Sunday, the city will surely be watching as the brothers meet in Arizona for Super Bowl LVII, and make NFL history as the first siblings to play on opposite sides of the big game.
The northeast Ohio community where the Kelces were raised has watched the brothers’ journey from the very start.
“They were very competitive growing up,” said Mike Jones, the former head football coach at Cleveland Heights High School.
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Jones was in charge of the school’s football program when the Kelces attended Heights High; he was head coach for all four years of Jason’s tenure as a high school player and for the first three years of Travis’ prep career.
Mike Jones was the head coach of the Cleveland Heights High School football program when the Kelce’s attended the school in the 2000s. (Stephen Goin)
Jones told Fox News the Kelces sibling rivalry was always on display.
“Jason was the ultimate big brother, c’mon Travis we need to be on time, we need to do this, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, and he made sure Travis was where he was supposed to be,” Jones said. “They didn’t ease up on each other at all on the field, once we crossed that white line they were competing against each other.”
Jones recalls how the brothers evolved as players and took on multiple offensive and defensive roles during their high school years.
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“Jason started out as an inside linebacker for us, and he ended up playing some full-back, a little tight end also, Jason was a ‘tweener,’ we didn’t always know where to put him … but he was fast and tough,” Jones said. “Then Travis was a quarterback, he was quarterback by default because he was the best athlete on the team.”
Before making history at Super Bowl LVII, Jason and Travis Kelce played at the University of Cincinnati, and in Cleveland Heights as high school stars. (Stephen Goin)
After high school, the Kelce brothers both went on to the University of Cincinnati. Jason was a preferred walk-on in 2006 but later earned an athletic scholarship; Travis joined his brother two years later. Jones credits the college coaching staff with helping the brothers find their professional footing before they became NFL players.
“Jason left here as a linebacker, they moved him around to defensive guard, then his senior year they moved him to center which he still plays today,” Jones said. “Travis went down there as a quarterback but they moved him to tight end and Travis loved it. Our job was to make sure the foundation was laid so they could do whatever the college coaches needed them to do.”
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In 2011, the Philadelphia Eagles picked up Jason as a sixth-round pick. Two years later, the Kansas City Chiefs took Travis in the third round. Travis is now an eight-time Pro Bowler, who consistently leads the league in receiving yards while Jason, a six-time Pro Bowler, is arguably one of the top centers in the game today.
The brothers invited Jones and his wife to a Pro Bowl in Orlando in 2017, where he was honored among 50 other high school coaches – though he was the only coach to have two players represented in the game.
In their hometown of Cleveland Heights, Eagles center Jason Kelce and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce have already made history. (Stephen Goin)
Jones told Fox News he feels the same pride he felt then as the Kelces prepared to take the field for the Super Bowl.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think they’d be playing each other in the Super Bowl. It’s a blessing, they’ve worked very hard for this and we’re just so happy for the family,” Jones said. “Just to get our guys to the point where they’re in the NFL, that’s a tough draw to do that, and for them to make it to the Super Bowl is just icing on the cake.”
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The Kelce brothers have previously appeared in multiple Super Bowls and are both Super Bowl champions; Jason took home a ring in Super Bowl LII (2018) and Travis followed suit in Super Bowl LIV (2020).
