April 17, 2024
Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
On 'New Heights', Jason Kelce and his brother Travis Kelce discussed the live show they hosted at the University of Cincinnati. During the craziness of the event, Jason's Super Bowl ring was lost in a kiddie pool filled with chili.
It's all fun and games until someone loses his Super Bowl ring.
Retired Philadelphia Eagle Jason Kelce learned that the hard way last week. His Super Bowl LII ring went missing during the live "New Heights" show that he and his brother, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, hosted April 11 at their alma mater, the University of Cincinnati on April 11.
The duo discussed the lost ring, which Jason earned when the Eagles beat the Patriots 41-33 on Feb. 4, 2018, on this week's episode of "New Heights." According to Jason, the ring had been placed in an inflatable pool of filled with chili as part of a game, and it now could be in a "landfill some place in the Cincinnati tri-state area."
MORE: 'Kelce' documentary earns 2 nominations at Sports Emmy Awards
Jason and Travis performed their live show in front of a sold-out crowd of 13,000 people at the university's Fifth Third Arena. The recording of the event has not been made into a podcast yet, but the Kelce brothers recapped many of the highlights in their latest episode.
The show kicked off with the Great Lombaby Games, a series of challenges that pitted Cincinnati students, split between Team Athletic and Team Academic, against each other. One challenge, called Jason Lost His Ring, involved two inflatable pools filled with chili, cheese and spaghetti — the signature dish of the Cincinnati restaurant chain Skyline Chili.
Jason described the "pungent odor" emanating from the pools, which had been sitting out for an extended period of time.
Along with gallons of chili, each pool contained socks stuffed with fake rings and one special sock that had either Jason's actual Super Bowl ring, or a replica. One competitor from each team was assigned to each pool to dig through the chili and find the special sock.
"The video does not do justice just how disgusting this was," Jason said.
To get the joke here, you have to know that Jason Kelce has a history of hiding his Super Bowl ring in his socks. The former Eagle center also regularly misplaces it, which was touched on in the Amazon Prime documentary about Kelce that premiered in September. And the chili with pasta — that's just a Cincinnati thing.
Participants dug through the mess in the kiddie pools, splashing each other and even entering opponent's pools to play defense. Team Academic found the special ring in their pool first, which happened to be the replica, thereby winning the game. Team Athletic was the official loser of the challenge, but Jason also emerged defeated.
"There was an unfortunateness," he said on the podcast. "As you guys know, this game existed because I continually lose my Super Bowl ring. I don't even know if Travis still knows this, but I legitimately lost my Super Bowl ring in this event. They could not find it."
Jason said that the next day, two "New Heights" producers were tasked with combing through the chili to find the ring. Given how "pungent" the chili smelled during the event, we can only imagine how disgusting that day-old mixture smelled. They deserve a raise!
Even a metal detector was no help.
"We have still yet to find it," Jason admitted. "All of this stuff has been thrown away, so I think we can safely assume that my Super Bowl ring is now in a landfill some place in the Cincinnati tri-state area. I didn't think that would happen."
Travis listened silently, shaking his head in disappointment at his older brother, until he finally chimed in, "What did you expect to happen?"
"I thought that we would just go in the pool and get the ring afterwards," Jason replied.
"You're such a f***ing imbecile," Travis said, with the loving disdain reserved for siblings.
Jason believes amid the "calamity" of the game, the sock may have gotten knocked out of the pool and thrown away by mistake. Either way, he said he does not believe it's coming back.
"Yes, the Super Bowl ring is officially gone," Jason said. "We've already put the insurance claim in — which I think the insurance company might have some things to say about whether they're gonna cover that."
Under further questioning by Travis, Jason tried to defend his decision to use the ring in the game, declaring he did not lose the ring because he knew "exactly where it was."
"It's the same thing as if I left it in my house and somebody came in my house and took it; it's the exact same scenario," Jason tried to argue. Then appeared to try to convince himself that the memento of the Eagles' historic championship season wasn't that important.
"It's just a hunk of metal," he said. "I'll just have another one made. They can do that right?"
In the Sports Emmy-nominated Prime Video documentary, "Kelce," scenes showed Jason fruitlessly searching the home he shares with his wife, Kylie, and their kids for his Super Bowl ring.
On a "New Heights" episode in September, after the premiere of the doc, Jason assured his little bro that Kylie did eventually find the ring in the glove compartment of one of their cars. But, Jason lost it again after that. So, for safe keeping, Jason decided to hide the ring in a sock in his sock drawer, a tip he said he learned from a defensive coordinator while he was getting recruited for college.
Thus was born the inspiration for the game that would eventually cause Jason to lose his ring (potentially) for good. With Jason's NFL career over following his retirement in March, his opportunities to earn another Super Bowl ring are sadly behind him. Here's hoping the insurance company is understanding!
During Wednesday's "New Heights" episode, the Kelces also discussed their podcast's Webby Award nominations, Jason's appearance at WrestleMania in Philadelphia, Travis' time at Coachella with Taylor Swift — who was seen wearing a green "New Heights" hat — and NFL news. Watch it here:
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