February 17, 2024
Philadelphia Eagles centre Jason Kelce on Friday took to social media to announce his mission to return his viral celebratory luchador mask to its rightful owner — a 14-year-old Kansas City Chiefs fan from Texas.
Last Sunday, the Eagles star went viral once again for celebrating his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s Super Bowl victory while sporting a luchador mask, NBC News reported
However, it turns out that the mask belonged to Elijah Smith, a diehard Chiefs fan, who got the chance to spend some moments with Jason in Las Vegas.
"I gave him my mask, and he dropped it, and then picked it back up from the ground. I got a picture with him and kinda just hung out with him, next to him for five to 10 min," Elijah said.
He said that he originally spotted the Eagles' centre at the Chiefs afterparty, so he ran over to grab a picture. However, Jason left, Elijah said, before he could get the luchador mask back.
Elijah feels the luchador mask is his good luck charm for the team. The eighth grader also wore it at last year's big game, when the Eagles fell to the Chiefs. Kansas City Cornerback Trent McDuffie even signed it.
"Last year, every time I put it on I feel like we scored a touchdown or got a defensive stop," Elijah said. He continued, "Once I put it back on, we made that 10-point come back in the second half, so I feel a little bit superstitious about it."
The Kelce brothers even mentioned the viral moment on the New Heights podcast earlier this week but, at the time, they had no idea who or where the mask came from.
Sarah said the Eagles star reached out to the family not long after the podcast, willing to return the mask.
Elijah said simply put, "I'm so happy with the fact that Jason Kelce was wearing my mask and celebrating in it. I thought that was really cool."
Elijah added, "You [Philadelphia fans] have a great guy in Jason. He's one of the nicest people I've ever met!"