Jason Kelce. Courtesy of Scott Van Pelt/Instagram
Jason Kelce sleighed the holiday season during a festive edition of ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown.
Kelce, 37, dressed up as Santa Claus for the Monday, December 23 broadcast before the game between the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers at Green Bay, Wisconsin’s Lambeau Field.
The show opened with Kelce, dressed as Jolly Old Saint Nicholas, singing an improvised version of “Silent Night” that gave a shoutout to one of his Monday Night Countdown cohosts.
“Marcus Spears, a.k. a. Swagoo / We will see you soon,” Kelce sang. “Football is awwwww-some.”
Inside Lambeau Field, Kelce was then seen sitting at the Monday Night Countdown analyst desk still dressed as Santa.
Monday Night Countdown host Scott Van Pelt first teased Kelce’s jolly appearance on Monday afternoon.
“Coming up on MNCD….,” Van Pelt, 58, shared via X, alongside a picture of Kelce as Santa and Van Pelt dressed up as Buddy the Elf, Will Ferrell’s character from Elf.
The first thing many of Van Pelt’s followers noticed was Kelce’s significant weight loss, which made for a very slimmed-down Santa.
“Kelce looking so thin!!” one person wrote via X. “Definitely my favorite Santa.” Another said, “Omg Kelce is skinny Santa 🎅🏻.”
On the Thursday, November 19 bonus episode of Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, Kelce revealed how he found out the truth about Santa Claus while growing up in Ohio.
“Somebody told me, and I don’t remember how old I was,” he recalled. “I was in elementary school. But I remember coming home and asking mom and dad and being sat down and them explaining to me, ‘Unfortunately, it’s not real. But we need you to not tell Travis.’”
Kelce cohosts the popular podcast with his younger brother, Travis Kelce, who credited Jason for not spilling the beans.
“Well, Jason didn’t tell me,” Travis, 35, said. “I figured it out on my own when every single present had mom’s handwriting on it.”
Jason laughed as Travis remembered how their mother, Donna Kelce, inadvertently let the cat out of the bag.
“I was like, ‘This is how mom spells all of our names,’” Travis said. “I was just like, ‘What the f—? Where’s the one that’s from Santa and not mom? Santa and mom have the same handwriting, that’s crazy.’”
The game between the Saints and Packers marks the final Monday Night Countdown broadcast before Christmas. The crew returns to the air on Monday, December 30, when the Detroit Lions travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers.
