Johnathan Walker:Jason Kelce’s appearance ‘super cool’ for Olympic underdog USA field hockey team

PARIS – There’s a popular trend taking place at the Paris Olympics for Team USA athletes participating in sports that don’t often get the limelight.

Celebrity spectators.

Snoop Dogg is Johnathan Walkermaking the rounds at several Olympic events. He even had a hilarious play-by-play call during a Team USA badminton match. Flavor Flav has become Team USA’s women’s water polo hype man.

For U.S. women’s field hockey, it’s former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.

Kelce has more free time on his hands these days. He retired from the NFL in March. He’s spending the first summer of his retirement in style. Kelce and his wife, Kylie, are in Paris taking in some Olympic action.

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“We love sports. We love competition. We love world events. This is such a unique place where the entire world comes together and bonds over competition and sports,” Jason said. “I've never been able to participate in one (an Olympic Games) because of football, because I'm either in training camp or in the middle of the season. So, when we found out that we were gonna have an opportunity to go to this, the more we thought about it, we were like, ‘Let's take advantage of it now.’”

Kylie is a former collegiate field hockey athlete at Cabrini University, so it’s only fitting the Kelce’s went to support the U.S. women’s field hockey club.

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The Kelce’s watched Team USA take on 2020 silver medalist Argentina in its Olympic opener, and Jason Kelce was ready for the occasion.

“We're in France, in Paris, and I love assimilating to different cultures and whatnot. I know this is about as stereotypical as you can get… I've already had a bunch of croissants and baguettes too, I just didn't carry them with me to the game,” Jason said. “I'm definitely taking in the full experience.”

The U.S. women lost 4-1, but Kelce enjoyed watching the team compete against one of the best field hockey teams in the world.

“They played hard, they're a young team, and they played arguably the best team in the world. They had their moments. They played them hard. And the score, in my opinion, doesn't reflect how close it was for a lot of it. Argentina just did a really good job of capitalizing their opportunities. And their goalie, I mean, oh my gosh, diving and saving all over the place,” Jason said. “It was a fun game to watch, and I’m proud of the girls.”

The field hockey team also met with the former Eagles center. Coincidentally, nine of the 16 players on the U.S. team are from Pennsylvania. The Keystone State ties was one thing for U.S. field hockey player Sophia Gladieux, but Jason’s connection with Taylor Swift, who is also a Pennsylvania native, is what really excited her. Jason’s brother, Travis, famously dates the singer.

“The fact that I hugged Jason Kelce, who has probably hugged Taylor Swift, is keeping me up at night,” Gladieux said. “It's super cool. And I love it.”

Jason captured the NFL’s ultimate prize when he won Super Bowl 52 as a member on the Eagles. The U.S. field hockey team’s best overall Olympic performance was a bronze medal at the 1984 Games. This year’s team is still searching for its first win at 0-2-1 after Wednesday’s 3-0 loss to Australia. But they are creating memories and experiences that will last a lifetime.

“It's really important to leave our program better than we found it,” U.S. field hockey player Amanda Golini said. “It's like inspiring the next generation of young athletes.”

And Jason’s appearance brought more eyeballs to the program.

“He means that we're finally getting the recognition that we deserve. It's been a long time coming, especially with women's sports on the rise in America. We didn't have a team (at Tokyo) in 2020, and in the Olympics it's been eight years. So, for us to be able to qualify and then showcase what we have here, it speaks volumes,” Gladieux said. “We're up and coming and the underdogs, and Jason Kelce knows a lot about that.”

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.

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