Jason Kelce is on a mission to return a Kansas City Chiefs luchador mask he borrowed from a teenage boy.
Jason, 36, was seen wearing the red-and-yellow face covering while celebrating brother Travis Kelce and the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII win on Sunday, February 11.
After it came to Jason’s attention that the owner of the mask, eighth-grader and Dallas resident Elijah Smith, wants it back, he apologized for taking it in the first place.
“Operation ‘Get Elijah His Mask Back’ is underway! I appreciate everyone bringing this to my attention, and look forward to uniting Elijah with his mask once again,” Jason wrote via X on Friday, February 16, alongside an NBC 5 article about Smith’s request. “Your mask indeed brings great fortune, I owe you big time, sorry it was commandeered.”
Elijah and his parents, Thad and Sarah Smith, spoke to NBC 5 about the mask mixup on Thursday, February 15.
“I gave him my mask, and then he dropped it and then picked it back up. 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,” Elijah recalled. “I saw videos on Instagram this week of him wearing it at the next afterparty he went to, so he clearly never took it off the whole night.”
Elijah’s father then implored the Philadelphia Eagles center to return the mask.
“Jason if you’re listening, we just need the mask back before the season starts. Because it’s a lucky mask, and so the Chiefs need the luck. I’m sorry we’re not Eagles fans,” he said.
Sarah also pointed out that the item has sentimental value since Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie signed it after the team’s Super Bowl LVII victory last February.
“I asked [Elijah] when we got to the room, ‘Wait, he has your mask?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah,’ and I said ‘Are you upset?’” she recalled. “He was a little bummed because it’s his autographed mask with Trent McDuffie. That was upsetting, but at the end of the day we were all celebrating a Super Bowl win.”
Jason’s pledge to rectify the situation comes after he mentioned the mask during the Wednesday, February 14, episode of his and Travis’ “New Heights” podcast.
“It didn’t really start getting to the next level until I found that luchador mask,” he said of the Super Bowl afterparty in Las Vegas. “There’s something about finding that luchador mask that really just transformed the night. It was like I transformed.”
Travis, 34, chimed in: “Nobody parties better than Jason Kelce. It was electric having my big brother around.”
In addition to Jason, Travis was cheered on by his parents, Donna and Ed Kelce, and girlfriend Taylor Swift during the big game, which ended with the Chiefs beating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22.
The celebrations continued on Wednesday with a victory parade in the Chiefs’ home city of Kansas City, Missouri. At the end of the rally, shots were fired. Local police later confirmed that one attendee, DJ Lisa Lopez-Galvan, died, and more than 20 others were injured. KC police took three suspects into custody and an investigation is ongoing.
Swift, 34, showed her support for Lopez-Galvan’s family by donating $100,000 to a GoFundMe page set up on Thursday.
“Sending my deepest sympathies and condolences in the wake of your devastating loss. With love, Taylor Swift,” she wrote.
Travis, meanwhile, addressed the tragedy via X on Wednesday, writing, “I am heartbroken over the tragedy that took place today. My heart is with all who came out to celebrate with us and have been affected. KC, you mean the world to me.”
