Sports
ESPN won’t discipline Jason Kelce for viral phone smash
On Monday night, ESPN’s Jason Kelce addressed at the outset of Monday Night Countdown an incident with a fan who was trolling him with derogatory language prior to the Ohio State-Penn Sate game. That apparently won’t be his last word on the matter.
Via David Rumsey of FrontOfficeSports.com, Kelce is expected to address the situation on the next episode of his New Heights podcast, which debuts Wednesday.
Perhaps more importantly for Kelce, ESPN won’t discipline the former Eagles center for the incident. In addition to smashing a phone, Kelce twice used the same homophobic slur that had been uttered by the troll in reference to Kelce’s brother, Travis.
Rumsey notes that, per the Philadelphia Inquirer, Penn State police are investigating the situation, which technically involved damage to personal property.
Kelce drew little if any criticism for his reaction to the situation. Kelce nevertheless said on Monday night, “I’m not proud of it and, you know, in a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that that’s a productive thing. I really don’t.”