The Kelce family’s sibling rivalry added another chapter when Jason Kelce won the same long drive contest that his brother, Travis Kelce, won last year.
Jason, 36, won the American Century Long Drive Contest with a 322-yard drive at the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nevada on Thursday, July 11. (Travis, 34, beat that mark by plenty in 2023, walloping a ball 362 yards in better conditions.)
“I’ve never hit anything that far in my life,” Travis said at the time. “That was smoked.”
While this was Jason’s first time at the American Century Championship, Travis is a veteran of the event.
“Trav, he’s been trying to get me to come out here for, like, 5 or 6 years,” Jason said in an interview with Nevada Sports Net. “He’s been raving about the event. All the guys who show up to it, all the fans, the American Century, everyone does a great job of making this a top-flight event. That’s very evident in my short time here so far.”
This isn’t Jason’s first foray into another sport since retiring from the NFL at the end of last season. He also threw out the first pitch at a Philadelphia Phillies game in March, bravely making his throw from the top of the mound and reaching the plate on the fly. (Jason spent his entire 13-year pro career as a center for the Philadelphia Eagles.)
The American Century Championship is a celebrity golf event, whose official play kicked off on Friday. Jason is one of many former athletes participating, including Roger Clemens, John Smoltz and Ray Allen. Travis is among the few current athlete participants, which includes current first-place player, NFL wide receiver Adam Thielen.
Colin Jost, Don Cheadle, Carson Daly, Ray Romano and Alex Rodriguez are all participating as well.
Neither Travis nor Jason are near the top of the tournament leaderboard as of Friday afternoon, but the two have spent their entire lives competing with and against each other. In the event that neither finds their way to the top, Jason shared his philosophy on losing on the brothers’ “New Heights” podcast.
Speaking about his daughters and their futures in youth sports, he said he wanted them to win just enough to stay confident, but to know what it feels like to lose.
“You don’t need to be happy that you’re falling,” Jason, who shares daughters Wyatt, Elliotte and Bennett with wife Kylie Kelce, said on the Wednesday, June 12 episode. “You just need to hate it, but know that it’s a process in order to get it right. Sometimes you gotta throw a trash can when you lose a game for your entire team so they know that you care.”
For now, however, Jason can bask in the glory of his long drive championship — even if his brother won’t let him forget he placed second in the family.
