The Pittsburgh Steelers’ fanbase is one of the biggest in the world, with fans doing a great job of taking over other team’s stadiums at times. Thanks to the Steelers almost always being competitive, fans usually have something to cheer for, staying engaged throughout the course of an entire season. It makes sense why people from Pittsburgh and the surrounding area would be Steelers fans, but they can be found almost anywhere, thanks in part to both their history of success and the long list of legendary players they’ve had on their roster. It seems even one future Hall of Fame center from Cleveland couldn’t help but become a Steelers fan.
Jason Kelce was a center for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2011 to 2023, racking up numerous Pro Bowls and All-Pro selections. Kelce retired this offseason and surely won’t have to wait long to get the call to be immortalized in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but before all the fame, he was just a young football fan in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. One would assume that would mean Kelce was a Cleveland Browns fan growing up, but in an interview with Nevada Sports Net, he revealed that he was actually a Steelers fan, with Jerome Bettis having been his favorite player.
“Jerome Bettis, he was my favorite player growing up,” Kelce said. “That’s who I wanted to be, I wanted to be a running back and just loved watching him play. I was born in Cleveland, and I even became a makeshift Steelers fan when the Browns left to become the Ravens. It’s like sacrilegious in Cleveland, everybody was like, ‘How are you a Steelers fan now?’ I’m like, we don’t have a team anymore, this is my favorite player.”
Kelce is referring to when the Browns left Cleveland for Baltimore in 1996, with Cleveland not having a team again until 1999. It looks like they took Kelce with them and dropped him off in Pittsburgh on the way, which is one more win the Steelers can count over the Browns. Not only have the Steelers dominated the Browns since they returned in 1999, but they even took one of their fans who would eventually become one of the greatest centers of all time.
No matter how much Deshaun Watson wants the Browns to be the Steelers’ greatest rival, reasons like this are why that can’t be true. While Bettis and the Steelers were competing for, and ultimately winning, Super Bowls, the Browns were struggling to tread water, posting only four winning records since they returned to Cleveland. During that same timespan, the Steelers only had a losing record twice. Suffice to say, Kelce made the right decision to become a Steelers fan.
The Steelers have one of the best fanbases in the world, and while Kelce’s heart probably belongs to the Eagles now, it still feels good to know he was once a Steelers fan. While he didn’t exactly choose the Steelers over the Browns, he did choose them over the Ravens, which is another win over a different division rival. Maybe Kelce can convince his brother’s superstar girlfriend to represent Pittsburgh when both brothers have their cleats hung up. Taylor Swift wearing a Bettis jersey would certainly be something Steelers fans would have to see to believe.
