Bills Central

Jason Kelce explains his soft spot for Bills Mafia: There's a 'connection'

Long-time Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce has made a recent habit of partying with Buffalo Bills fans. He explained his soft spot for the fanbase.

Kyle Silagyi

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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Jason Kelce never played for the Buffalo Bills. He only faced off against the Bills four times throughout his 13-year NFL career. He has no direct ties to the organization or even to Western New York. There’s, from a 30,000-foot view, no obvious reason why the six-time All-Pro center should have an affinity for the Buffalo faithful, and vice versa.

But life works in mysterious ways, as the long-time Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman has a demonstrable soft spot for Bills Mafia. He first put his fondness for the fanbase on display during Buffalo’s 2023 AFC Divisional Round matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs at Highmark Stadium; attending the game in support of his brother (Kansas City tight end Travis), Kelce let the energy of the crowd get to him midway through the contest, taking his shirt off and celebrating amongst Bills fans while still technically a member of the Eagles. He again acquainted himself with the Buffalo faithful earlier this season when he attended a Bills tailgate outside of MetLife Stadium ahead of the team’s Week 6 clash with the New York Jets, donning a Buffalo-themed Fred Flintstone costume as he took a shot out of a bowling ball.

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It’s perhaps a bit surprising to see another team’s stalwart so openly embrace a different fanbase post-retirement, but Buffalo fans are an endearing bunch. Kelce explained his affection toward the fanbase during a recent appearance on Eric Wood’s Centered on Buffalo podcast, chalking it up to the fact that he grew up just a few hours down Interstate 90 in Cleveland.

“I feel like everybody who grew up next to a Great Lake kind of has some type of kinship towards each other,” Kelce said. “There’s a lot of similar weather, a lot of similar people. Most of the towns are born off of industry and blue-collar individuals that made stuff for a living, and I think it’s pretty innate. It was weird, we said this on my podcast last year, when we were flying into Buffalo for the playoff game, I just remember, even just seeing the lake, there was this weird, eerie feeling that I was, like, back some place I belonged.

“I don’t know, I feel like there is some type of connection with Buffalo, for sure, and the fans are just out of this world passionate about the team, and that obviously, as we found out last year during the playoff game, is very infectious. For sure, I think that that’s like a very Lake Erie region thing. Any time you’re up by one of those things, you feel like you belong. You’re back home, kind of.”

Lake Erie prompting a discernible feeling within an individual generally isn’t a good thing (we’d advise against eating the fish), but in this particular instance, it’s caused Kelce to take a liking to Bills fans. Buffalo is set to host Travis Kelce and the Chiefs in a Week 11 bout later this year; perhaps Jason will make the trek up to Western New York to hang out with Bills Mafia yet again.

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Kyle Silagyi
KYLE SILAGYI

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