Jason Kelce gives special tribute to Ilona Maher ahead of US women's Bronze medal match at Paris Olympics
Jason Kelce is enjoying his first summer since retiring from the NFL after the 2023-24 season. First, it was golfing on the shores of Lake Tahoe. Now it is attending the Summer Olympics in Paris.
He seems to have found a new friend in female rugby star Ilona Maher, who shared the Instagram story posted by Rheann Engelke before Team USA's bronze medal game. The story featured Jason holding a rugby ball while wearing a jacket covered with Maher's face cutouts. The caption read:
"it's official: @jasonkelce is the flava flav of @usarugby thanks to @ilonamaher"
She also shared a short clip of Kelce praticing rugby movements:
"Casual day in the office"
The two also appeared in this TikTok clip, where he says:
"I am officially a fan. Women's rugby Olympics."
Maher and the team won the game, upsetting Australia 14-12.
Jason Kelce, wife Kylie also met field hockey Olympian sisters in Paris
On Saturday, Jason Kelce and his wife, Kylie, met sisters Emma and Brooke DeBerdine, who play field hockey. Interestingly, Kylie played hockey in high school and college and even gave the former gridiron center some lessons during the day, as shown in this photo montage shared by the New Heights X.com account:
The two then watched the game against Argentina at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium in Colombes, a northwesterly suburb. However, the Americans lost 1-4, with Ashley Sessa scoring their only goal. Kylie told the Associated Press after the game:
“I would say I’ve always wanted to come and see (an) Olympic Games. When (the field hockey team) qualified, I was like, 'That kind of makes sense.' And then when I got to sit down with Ashley and Kelee (Lepage), it was kind of a no-brainer.
“It was just really cool to sit down and talk with them about what this means to them, how they’ve looked forward to it and what it took for them get here; and it’s so amazing to see them on this stage.”
Team USA drew 1-1 with Spain the next day. Their next games are today against Australia, tomorrow against Great Britain, and on Saturday against South Africa.