While Travis Kelce was preparing to take on the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round of the playoffs at Highmark Stadium, his brother, Jason, was getting the full Bills Mafia experience.
In the latest episode of the New Heights podcast, Kelce was asked by his brother Travis to describe his time in Orchard Park. Without hesitation, Jason Kelce gushed about his time in Buffalo.
“It was incredible,” Kelce told his brother. “I mean, honestly, one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had from start to finish… Buffalo, Bills Mafia, it’s incredible. We haven’t been to a lot of tailgates. The only other tailgate I’ve been to is Arrowhead. Great tailgate, but I mean, doggone man, it was an electric atmosphere with the Bills Mafia.”
For the older Kelce brother, it was a chance to unwind after a grueling season. Kelce described how it was nice to get away from the grind of football after a year in Philadelphia that saw the team collapse late in the year.
“This was an opportunity, honestly, to just go some place and forget about all of that,” Kelce said. “Just go have fun and root on your brother. I haven’t had the opportunity to go to a game of yours in like two years now because of the Super Bowl and other circumstances. I was excited to go to Buffalo. One, to cheer you on, but also to experience the legendary Bills Mafia.”
To make sure he had a true Bills Mafia experience, Kelce reached out to two men who he knew wouldn’t steer him wrong: Ryan Fitzpatrick and Eric Wood.
Kelce’s first stop was The Big Tree Inn with Wood. He told his brother a story of how during the Jim Kelly years, the team would go to Big Tree Inn between two-a-days and have lunch and drink causing the second practices to be sloppy in comparison. He gave The Big Tree Inn rave reviews and talked about the incredible experience that he had leading up to the game.
“I’m not going to lie, man. They made me feel f—king awesome, at home,” Kelce said. “The fans, the Big Tree Inn, everything was just incredible. I didn’t get outside until later. I wanted to go outside early and I wanted to take my shirt off then and be out there because I feel like, i don’t know if I’m wrong in my head, but I feel taking your shirt off is a Buffalo Bills thing. I want the full experience. I wanted to take everything off and be out there with the fans, but I didn’t get to be out there very often.”
One stop that Kelce made on his way to the stadium was Pinto Ron’s tailgate. He told New Heights viewers about taking bowling ball shots and about the creative ways that fans are cooking food at the tailgate.
“I only hit up a couple of the tailgates really walking into the stadium because it was a cluster, but I did get to see Pinto Ron’s tailgate with the bowling ball,” Kelce said. “Did the shot out of the bowling ball. No idea what that liquor was. I didn’t ask any questions. When somebody hands you a bowling ball with a shot the last thing I’m like is, ‘Oh, is this Crown Royal or is this…?’ I’m not asking any questions. I did have to clarify how to drink this. Do I just put this up to my mouth? It’s a shot. It’s right there in the hole. They’re doing all sorts of crazy things at Pinto Ron’s. They got the cabinet, the filing box that they’re making pizza in, they’re cooking chicken on top of an old Pinto. Shenanigans were full bore over there.”
One regret that Kelce had was not getting the opportunity to go through a table. He told his brother that he hopes to do that the next time he’s tailgating with the Bills Mafia which led the brothers to discussing post-retirement plans where they go to a different tailgate weekly to experience how fan bases have a good time pre-game.
“I was hoping I was going to get an opportunity and it just didn’t arrive. Maybe next time. Next time, Buffalo. I was wishing. No tables though. No tables… Had who knows how many beers over at BIg Tree and then through the tailgate. Dude, I don’t know what I was expecting, but everybody was beyond excited to have a good time and enjoy some football… Man, it was awesome.”
Although he was there to cheer on the rival team, it’s clear that Jason Kelce has everything it takes to become a member of the Bills Mafia.
