NFL legend Jason Kelce has admitted he got it wrong when he called the Welsh ‘rich, upper-class people’.
After Louis Rees-Zammit quit Welsh rugby to join the NFL, his new Kansas City Chiefs teammate Travis Kelce admitted he still has a long way to go to making it at the elite level.
Kelce was speaking to his brother Jason, who forged an incredible career with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he labelled Welsh people ‘posh’.
The Super Bowl LII champion has been quoted saying: “When I think of Welsh, I think British people call it ‘posh’. I think of these rich, upper class, just beautiful white people.
“He [Rees-Zammit] is the running stereotype of what I would think of with a Welsh person. I don’t know if that’s an accurate stereotype but that’s certainly what I think of and he’s helping continue that trend in my mind.
“I’m excited to see what this guy does. I know it’s gonna be a learning curve, but I hope this guy takes the world by f****** storm.
“It will be electric. With a smile like that, this guy… if he works out, he’s gonna be the most marketable player of all time.”
However, after being called out on social media, Kelce has since retracted the comments he made.
He wrote to one fan: “Yea, I’ve come to understand, I was very incorrect on this.
“Based on further assessment since these incorrect statements, not sure why I had these preconceptions in my mind, but I have found that the Welsh seem exactly like my kind of people. Happy to be incredibly wrong.”
As an Eagles legend who spent his entire 13-year career at the team from 2011 to 2023, Kelce might have had experience with Welsh culture, with Philadelphia adopting plenty of history from the British nation.
Several towns are named after Welsh places including Bala Cynwyd, Berwyn, Bryn Athn, Bryn Mawr and Gwynedd.
They originate from the Welsh Tract, where a group of Welsh-speaking Quakers settled in the late 17th century in the the Province of Pennsylvania, eventually settling in a region to the west of Philadelphia.
As such, the city of Philadelphia retains plenty of Welsh traditions and names, with even Kelce giving his daughter the middle name Llewelyn, a common name in Wales.
As for Rees-Zammit, the 23-year-old still has a long way to go before making his name in the NFL after leaving behind his superstar status in rugby.
The former Wales winger decided to leave the sport behind earlier this year on the eve of the Six Nations and has since joined the Chiefs, who won the Super Bowl this year.
News Summary:
- NFL legend Jason Kelce retracts ‘very incorrect’ comments on ‘posh’ Welsh people
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