Paris — Jason Kelce, considered one of the NFL's greatest centers, wore the classic blue beret in Colombes to watch hockey during the opening weekend of the Paris Olympics.
The Kelseths (Jason's wife, Kylie, played field hockey as a child) were there to support the U.S., which lost its opening game against Argentina.
And the man who spent his entire football career with the Philadelphia Eagles (his brother Travis is Taylor Swift's boyfriend) seemed to be getting into the action.
“They played hard. They're a young team and they were playing against arguably the best team in the world,” Jason said. “They had chances. They played hard. And, in my opinion, the score doesn't reflect how close the game was for the majority of it.”
“Argentina made good use of their chances and their goalkeeper, my goodness, was diving and making saves all over the place. It was a fun game to watch and I'm proud of the players.”
Regarding wearing a French beret, he added: “We're in Paris, France. I love assimilating into different cultures. I know it's a stereotype… I already eat a lot of croissants and baguettes, I just didn't bring them to the game.”
“I'm definitely going to enjoy the experience to the fullest. It was raining so I needed something to cover my head, so I bought one at the souvenir shop.”
With the NFL being far more popular in the US than college-level hockey, Jason said hockey gets more attention, even though he lives in the sport's birthplace.
He said, “I might be biased because I live in Pennsylvania and there are a lot of girls on this team that are from Pennsylvania, so we get a lot of publicity from that area.”
“The sport has really taken off in the last year. I feel like field hockey in general is becoming more popular in America.”
“They're a really young team and they're full of energy, so if they keep doing what they're doing and play hard, I think everyone at home will be proud of them.”
