Jason Kelce is currently in North Carolina to watch his brother, Travis, and the Kansas City Chiefs face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. However, he made the short trip up the mountains from Charlotte to Boone for a college football game between App State and James Madison at The Rock on Saturday.
Mountaineers fans pelted the visiting Dukes with snowballs prior to kickoff after chugging beers with the future Pro Football Hall of Famer at the tailgate!
Snow rolled into lower Appalachia on Friday night and covered Western North Carolina with a few inches of wet powder. This was the scene at Kidd-Brewer Stadium come sunrise in the High Country:
Getting ready for some @AppState_FB Game Day pic.twitter.com/AwwSQvJznW
— Doug Gillin (@DougGillin) November 23, 2024
Kelce, who donated a lot of money to the region in wake of Hurricane Helene, wanted to show his support while in the area. (He also wanted to experience one of the best game days in college football.)
Look at who made it to The Rock for @AppState_FB today… @JasonKelce.
— AWN – Appalachian Weekly News (@AppWeeklyNews) November 23, 2024
He took a pic w/some of our students before the game.
Kelce says since the @Chiefs are in CLT to play the @Panthers Sunday, he wanted to come up and support Western North Carolina after the hurricane. #NFL pic.twitter.com/MLYDBQlfBF
As a man of the people, Kelce immediately found a tailgate at which he could crush a few beers.
I redownloaded twitter just to let everyone know I just shotgun a beer with @JasonKelce #GoApp pic.twitter.com/FndEw9Onf6
— Nick Robison (@robisonnk) November 23, 2024
The overall-clad 37-year-old even joined in on some parking lot karaoke to belt out his best rendition of ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ by Bonnie Tyler. He really went for it!
That was not the only microphone presented to Kelce on Saturday! App State also asked him to speak on the field at halftime so he delivered a rousing speech about resilience and community.
Prior to that point, the Mountaineers made sure to welcome the Dukes into hostile territory. To do so, they pelted the visitors with snowballs as they emerged from the tunnel and walked onto the field.
Welcome to Boone ya filthy animals! pic.twitter.com/NB3SPzkJZB
— Expose Yosef (@ExposeYosef) November 23, 2024
In the end, it was App State that proved victorious with a 34-20 victory over James Madison.
What you said, @JasonKelce. What you said.#GoApp #MountainStrong pic.twitter.com/cDclMOLwHX
— App State Football (@AppState_FB) November 23, 2024
The power of Jason Kelce prevails once again. Everywhere he goes, wins seem to follow!