Jason Kelce had a fun time celebrating brother Travis’ Super Bowl LVIII victory in a Kansas City Chiefs luchador mask — but now he’s doing the right thing and returning the mask to its rightful owner.
At the Super Bowl after-parties on Sunday, Jason was spotted partying hard in the mask — along with his red and yellow checkered Chiefs overalls and a “Big Yeti” shirt in honor of brother Travis — and he opened up about how he came across the epic accessory on his and Travis’ New Heights podcast this week.
“Found the mask on the dance floor at the first after-party spot,” Jason recalled. “I picked it up and right away I was like, ‘Oh. Hell. Yes.'”
“Sorry to whoever I stole that from,” he continued. “That’s part of the beauty of this whole thing. It appeared out of nowhere… You see a luchador mask, you don’t ask questions. You just put that thing on, baby.”
However, as footage of Jason in the mask circulated this week, Elijah Smith, a Texas eighth grader and major Chiefs fan, realized it was his. According to Elijah, he and Jason actually met at the Super Bowl party and even snapped a pic with Jason in the mask before the Philadelphia Eagles center ended up partying the rest of the night, still in possession of the mask.
In an interview with Dallas’ NBC affiliate, Elijah shared his recollection of events.
“I gave him my mask and then he dropped it and then picked it back up,” he remembered. “Then I got a picture with him wearing it and then I just hung out next to them for five to 10 minutes, they were dancing and everything.”
He said he lost track of Jason in the confusion of the party, and realized later that the NFL star had been wearing the mask all night.
Now, Elijah and his parents have said they’d like the mask back. For one, it has an autograph from Chiefs player Trent McDuffie on one side. And it’s also been a bit of a good luck charm as the Chiefs have won back-to-back Super Bowls.
“Last year when I wore it in Arizona, I feel like every single time I put it on we would score a touchdown,” the student recalled. “It would be pretty cool if he autographed it and sent it back.”
For his part, Jason has seen the interview and on Friday, he took to X (formerly Twitter) to promise that Elijah would get his mask back soon.
“Operation ‘Get Elijah His Mask Back’ is underway!” he wrote. “I appreciate everyone bringing this to my attention, and look forward to uniting Elijah with his mask once again. Your mask indeed brings great fortune, I owe you big time, sorry it was commandeered.”
On the New Heights episode, Jason also opened up about another surreal moment from the Super Bowl — when Travis’ girlfriend, Taylor Swift, introduced him to rapper Ice Spice.
“I was introduced to her as Ice,” Jason shared. “She was very nice.”
And that’s not the only headline-making musician that Jason bumped elbows with at the big game.
“I’m watching the game, sitting with Miles Teller, watching the game, talking football, and all of the sudden I hear Taylor behind me like, ‘Jason, turn around!’ And Paul McCartney is standing right there,” he recalled. “I’m like, ‘What the heck is this?! There’s royalty in the office?!’ Oh my gosh.”
