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Donna Kelce Reveals How Son Travis Kelce Blocks Out the Noise

When Travis Kelce steps on the football field, he's not worried about any outside chatter, his mom Donna told E! News while promoting her partnership with Ancestry. Allow her to explain his game plan.

By Jess Cohen Nov 15, 2023 2:00 PMTags
Watch: Donna Kelce Reveals How Travis Blocks Out The Noise

When it's game time, Travis Kelce is in the zone.

In fact, his mom Donna Kelce revealed the Kansas City Chiefs tight end's strategy for blocking out any noise going on outside of a football stadium.

"I can tell you this, I think Travis can compartmentalize it," Donna, who recently partnered with Ancestry, exclusively told E! News. "He can be in the moment and talk to somebody and not worry about what else is going on around him."

As she explained, both Travis and his brother—Philadelphia Eagles' Jason Kelce—are professionals who've dealt with being in the spotlight for years.

However, with their teams' headline-making 2023 Super Bowl faceoff combined with Travis' budding romance with Taylor Swift—there's been extra attention on the Kelce family this year.

"This is just like times 10," Donna noted, adding that at this point in their lives, both Travis and Jason are "very happy that they've had the success that they have and they know that that comes along with it."

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Jason Kelce and Kylie Kelce's Sweet Love Story

And if they're ever in doubt, the NFL stars have each other to turn to.

"They can just feed off of each other and discuss it and joke about it," Donna added, "which is usually the way that they handle things, with humor."

Ancestry® on behalf of The Kelce Family

As for what Travis and Jason—who shares three daughters with wife Kylie Kelce—told her about handling life in the public eye?

"They just say, 'Please don't take anything that you read personally. Sometimes a lot of it's made up, sometimes it's not, it depends on the source. So, you know what you said, you know how you feel. And that's the most important thing,'" Donna shared with E! News. "And you know, I'll follow their lead. When they tell me I can mention things, when I can say things, I will. But in the meantime I'm just gonna keep their stuff private."

Though, as Donna pointed out, "They're doing just fine on their own, showing the world. I don't think I have to say a word. They're going ahead and making it very clear."

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

So clear, in fact, that Travis was spotted supporting his rumored girlfriend at her Eras Tour concert in Argentina over the weekend, where fans captured their sweet post-show PDA.

Though Donna said she doesn't typically get a text before her sons leave the country, she understands. 

"They don't give me a heads up. They're guys, they're guys," she told E!. "So, they don't really tell their mom everything—they're 34 and 36 years old."

(Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

"But they do include me in a lot of things," she added, referencing Jason's Amazon Prime documentary Kelce and upcoming album A Philly Special Christmas Special. Plus, "I go to every single game that I can."

And when schedules are released for the next NFL season, Donna maps out her calendar so she can split time between both her sons' games.

"I just text them the day before the game and tell them that I wish them all the luck in the world," she said. "If I can find a funny picture or something when they were little that makes sense for the particular game, like if they're playing a certain team that has a horse as a mascot or something or that is in the name, I will send them riding one when they were little."

"I try to cheer them up that way to let them know that they can empowers themselves," Donna added. "They don't need anybody to do that for them. They're very competitive."

Ancestry® on behalf of The Kelce Family

As Donna gears up for Jason and Travis' next game—against each other!—on Nov. 20, she's also detailing her new partnership with Ancestry, which has given her insight into her own family history.

"Family is everything to me and our family is football and football is family," she told E!. "Big sports family. Whenever we're together, it's very, very few times because we have such busy schedules. So we find that we get closer when we reminisce about events and looking at old photos and talk about sweet stories and things like that. When we get together around the holidays and what have you, it's so important not only to share the family stories but hopefully we can preserve them. We can do that with Ancestry."

Noting she's been an Ancestry consumer for years, Donna explained, "It was so enlightening for me to hear about my DNA and my family tree."

As Jason and Travis' NFL seasons continue to heat up, keep reading for a look back at Donna's game day outing with T.Swift...

Thumbs Up

On Sept. 24, 2023, Taylor made a surprise appearance at a Kansas City Chiefs game, sitting in a luxury suite with Donna Kelce, mother of tight end Travis Kelce, with whom the singer had sparked romance rumors weeks prior.

Cheering on Travis

Touchdown!

Let's Go Chiefs

Chatting With Mom

Cheer Captain

So Proud

Suite Life

All Smiles

Burning Red

No Need to Calm Down

Big Applause

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