Jason Kelce found himself in the midst of a viral confrontation over the weekend while he was in State College for the Ohio State-Penn State game. The acclaimed podcaster and ESPN commentator was walking down the street when he was verbally accosted from behind by someone who directed a homophobic slur in his direction. Kelce then turned around, snatched the offending parties phone and hurled it through the Earth's mantle.
Everyone saw the clip and Kelce offered a sincere apology last night before launching into his Monday Night Countdown duties.
It's the type of celebrity catnip that allows a million different opinions and yet in this case the internet was overwhelmingly on Kelce's side.
Chris Long spoke at some length about the situation while guesting on Kevin Clark's This Is Football and his comments are worth considering.
Chris Long with the best five minutes you'll hear today on the Jason Kelce situation.
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) November 5, 2024
"The internet culture has ruined real life and there's too many people who grew up in situations where they never got punched in the face."
An unbelievable This Is Football with @JOEL9ONE. pic.twitter.com/m5WdwfAKRa
"I think everything's about clout now in the world now," Long said. "Period. It's hard as even a media member not to fall in these traps. Everybody is chasing clout. It's the quickest way I can get my five minutes of fame. That guy getting the phone smacked out, if it weren't for the fact that it seems like the whole internet turned on this guy ... Nowadays a kid who gets smacked in the face might say hey, look what I got done, I got smacked in the face by Jason Kelce."
"The internet culture has ruined real life and there's too many people who grew up in situations where they never got punched in the face," Long continued. "And I'm not saying that's like a prerequisite to being an adult but I'm pretty sure that guy never got punched in the face."
Long makes a good point. Getting punched in the face or having your phone destroyed for content still means you got smacked in the face or you have to visit the phone store. And both of those things aren't very fun.
If there's anything positive to come from all of this it's that we all seem to be on the same general page as to where the line is and agree it was crossed over. Small victory.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chris Long on Jason Kelce Incident: 'Internet Culture Has Ruined Real Life'.
