Jason Kelce, the recently retired NFL center, showcased a distinctly different look in throwback photographs from his college football era, appearing without his signature scruffy beard. The images were revealed during Wednesday's episode of the "New Heights" podcast, which he co-hosts with his brother, Travis Kelce.
"I just hate the way my face looks without a beard," Jason Kelce stated on the podcast, referring to the clean-shaven photographs from his time playing for the University of Cincinnati. He shared a photo of himself in a huddle with teammates, questioning his appearance. "Is that what I look like when I’m yelling? Is that how it always looks?"
Kelce also commented on his past grooming habits, specifically his eyebrows. "That was back when I used to just take my razor, and that’s how I trim my eyebrows," he said. "I would just go straight across my eyebrows. So they ended up being super thin and not having any shape."
His brother, Travis Kelce, reacted with amusement to the confession, noting that his brother's eyebrows were indeed much thinner in the college photos compared to now.
Travis also shared a personal grooming anecdote, admitting he attempted to shave his chest during his college years, which resulted in a "bloody and patchy" aftermath after he tried waxing. "So I just gave up," he recalled.
Jason Kelce's wife, Kylie Kelce, has previously expressed that seeing her husband without his beard would be startling. She mentioned on her "Not Gonna Lie" podcast that she has "never met his chin" and speculated about its appearance. She also suggested that their four daughters—Wyatt, Elliotte, Bennett, and Finnley—might react with distress if he were to shave his beard.
Jason Kelce played for the Philadelphia Eagles before retiring from the NFL. He and Kylie met in 2014 and married in 2018.