Super Bowl 57: Jason and Travis Kelce prepare for the game’s first sibling meeting

Jason and Travis Kelce kicked off the season by talking about gelding bulls on their new podcast.

In a “mind-boggling” scenario, when Jason’s Philadelphia Eagles face Travis’ Kansas City Chiefs, it will be the first time the brothers play against each other in the NFL championship game.

“You realize it could happen, I don’t think we ever thought it would happen,” Jason said. “It has to be a lottery pick type of probability.”

During Super Bowl week in Phoenix, their mother Donna became arguably as famous as her children, speaking to media around the world about the ‘Kelce Bowl’.

And if the story wasn’t already surreal enough, there could be another addition to the family this weekend.

Brothers reaching new heights

Jason and Travis Kelce have been in the NFL for at least 10 years, winning a Super Bowl each.

They’ve each had numerous Pro Bowl selections, meaning they’re the best in the NFL at their positions – center and close end, respectively.

But last summer they wanted to start a new venture, a podcast called New Heights named after Cleveland Heights, the suburb where they grew up in Cleveland, Ohio.

In the first episode, Jason talks about getting his hands on some cows he bought last summer. This set the tone, and the topics became more random as the brothers became more relaxed.

New Heights is about football, family and fun, and was one of the most popular podcasts in America even before the ‘Kelce Bowl’.

On last week’s episode, Jason said he was “over it” and they tried to downplay it. But now they have fully embraced the media circus.

They are selling ‘Kelce Bowl’ merchandise and taped the latest episode on ‘radio row’ where the media broadcasts 24 hours a day during Super Bowl week.

Body slams and Bambi

At 35, Jason is two years older and in another episode Travis recalled how, as a child, his older brother had once hurled him against the living room hardwood floor.

To avoid being caught right away, they covered the hole with the couch. Boys will be boys.

Travis was surprised that the most questions asked during the numerous media opportunities this week were about who won the most fights growing up.

“Jason won every fight but one – and that was the last one!” he said. “He stopped fighting me after that.”

That must have been when a sudden growth spurt caused Travis to catch up with his older brother.

“It hit like lightning,” Jason said. “Overnight, he went from an uncoordinated Bambi to a full-fledged stallion. I was like ‘where did Seabiscuit come from?'”

At 6 feet 5 inches, Travis is now two inches taller, but Jason has a stockier build, weighing in at 300 pounds while Travis is 250 pounds. Jason’s main role is to block the opposition and he accepts that Travis has always been the more talented athlete.

Sadly, there will be no repeat of their childhood battles on Sunday. They both play offense, so they’ll never be on the field at the same time.

A Super Bowl baby?

The brothers credit their father Ed with giving them a love of the sport – and his bushy eyebrows. Ed paid for them to try out several sports before settling on football, and they played on the same college team at the University of Cincinnati.

Since coming to the NFL, they’ve been one-team men, and mom Donna is their biggest fan.

During last season’s playoffs, they played on the same day but hours apart, so Donna watched the Eagles lose in Tampa Bay before flying 1,200 miles to Kansas City to see the Chiefs beat Pittsburgh.

The NFL has tweeted progress reports about his journey and during the Chiefs’ postgame press conference, it asked Travis about throwing the only touchdown pass of his career during that game.

But Travis accepts that, at the moment, Jason is her favorite, and Donna does too. That’s because Jason and his wife Kylie have given him two grandchildren – and there’s another on the way.

Kylie is 38 weeks pregnant and will be accompanied by her in-game nurse in Phoenix. If she goes into labor during the Super Bowl, NFL medical staff have said she can deliver at State Farm Stadium.

And if so, Kylie said that she and Jason considered giving the baby the initials SB.

Thanksgiving Bragging Rights at stake

Super Bowl week kicks off with Opening Night, a fun media event where players answer all kinds of questions.

Wearing a half-and-half shirt made from Chiefs and Eagles jerseys, Donna joined the boys onstage and presented each with a box of homemade cookies.

She also answered questions about them lifting oars with their faces. Apparently, the youngest brother, Travis, is the son of the biggest mummy.

Donna has been regularly hanging out at the media center all week, wearing a half-and-half denim jacket and talking to as many reporters as possible. She also took part in Roger Goodell’s press conference, asking the NFL commissioner if he would come to his boys’ podcast. He is game.

Some fans even started a petition for Donna to draw on Sunday, with 185,000 signatures at last sight.

And coming in full-time, Donna said she’ll only have the option of joining the winning son on the field, as “losers are immediately sent to the hotel. It’s like ‘go to your room’.”

She added, “I know they both desperately want this win to bragging rights at the Thanksgiving table.”

‘For everything to line up as it is is mind-boggling’

There have been brothers in the Super Bowl before. John and Jim Harbaugh were rival coaches in Super Bowl 47, while twins Devin and Jason McCourty were on the same team as the New England Patriots won Super Bowl 53, but brothers on rival teams is a first.

“Let’s just think about how incredibly rare it is to make it to the NFL (from high school),” said Jason Kelce.

“What are the chances of two guys making it to the NFL (getting signed), them fulfilling their dream of playing in the NFL, then they become starters, All Pros and key players on your team, and then they end up facing each other in the Super Bowl?

Travis, who should have more of an impact on the game as he is one of the best receivers in the NFL, added: “It’s wild — and kind of surreal.

“It’s a special moment. It’s something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. You guys talking so much about me and my brother has been fun, we appreciate that, but at the same time I’m just trying to get the Chiefs a win.”