Jason Kelce nearly broke the Internet on Sunday, October 1, when he revealed the “superstars” he had rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles: his mom, Donna Kelce, and Jake From State Farm actor Kevin Miles.
It turns out the now-viral seating arrangement was the brainchild of Ryan Reynolds’ marketing agency, Maximum Effort.
“No one can capture the zeitgeist quite like Taylor Swift,” George Dewey, who cofounded Maximum Effort with Reynolds, told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, October 4. “And you know, her appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs games really dominated the cultural landscape for like 5 or 6 days, so when we kind of arrived at this idea during a brainstorm for another project, it just felt too good to resist.”
Donna, 70, the mother of Jason, 35, and Travis Kelce, is frequently spotted in the stands supporting her successful sons. Late last month, Donna even sat beside Travis’ new love interest, Swift, in his private box at the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri.
Jason couldn’t resist trolling the pair during his Sunday game as Travis and Swift’s potential pairing made waves online.
“I also have a superstar in my corner. @jakefromstatefarm,” Jason wrote via Instagram, sharing a pic of Donna, clad in Eagles merch, smiling beside Miles in the stands.
According to Dewey, Maximum Effort was interested in giving Donna a famous seatmate to craft a viral moment. But to get Jason and Donna on board, they enlisted Reynolds’s Wrexham FC co-owner, Rob McElhenney, to clinch the deal.
“Rob kind of back-channeled to Jason that the idea was coming and that he thought it was funny,” Dewey added, noting McElhenney, 46, is a big Eagles fan. “It was enormously helpful, especially when you’re moving this fast. You know, you have to work in an environment of trust.”
He continued: “Once we had a good degree of confidence that everyone got the joke, and that there would be no issue. we were all very happy to proceed.”
Reynolds, 46, reshared the now-viral photo onto his X (formerly Twitter) page, captioning it, “Donna Kelce FTW.”
After Donna watched Jason and his NFL team win their game, she hit the road to be able to make it to Travis’ away game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, later that night. Donna arrived in the middle of the matchup against the New York Jets, joining Swift and Reynolds in a private box. Swift, 33, even gave Donna a sweet hug upon her arrival.
“[Mom has] been on top of the f—king world, man,” Travis told his brother during the Wednesday episode of their “New Heights” podcast. “I know mom enjoyed it. … I didn’t get a chance to see her, so I shot her a text right after the game on the bus ride to the airport and was like, ‘Hey, mom, sorry I didn’t get to catch you before I left but I hope you enjoyed the game. I appreciate you always trying to make it to both of our games.’”
Travis teased that Donna thought she was in an “alternate universe” sitting between “Deadpool and Wolverine,” referring to Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s respective superhero characters. (Swift also invited Reynolds’ wife, actress Blake Lively, Sabrina Carpenter, Sophie Turner and more famous friends to cheer on the Chiefs.)
“It was a hot ticket, man, you know what I’m saying? That suite was rockin,’” Travis added on Wednesday. “They were enjoying themselves. [Mom] told me that everybody was enjoying themselves in that suite.”
