Jason Kelce Convinced He Is Inspiration Behind Flyers' ‘Gritty’ Mascot

Jason Kelce has noticed a striking resemblance between himself and the Philadelphia Flyers mascot, Gritty — so much so that the retired NFL center believes the lovable character was actually modeled after him.

During Wednesday's episode of the New Heights podcast, Jason revealed this theory to his brother, Travis Kelce.

"I will take this to my grave. Gritty was started the year after the [2018 Super Bowl] parade," Jason said. "That thing looks f*cking just like me."

Was Gritty modeled after Jason Kelce?

(Imagn-Images)

Travis was skeptical, but Jason doubled down: "Tell me that thing is not my likeness!"

"Shut the f*ck up," Travis told his brother, laughing.

Jason continued to plead his case: "Dude, they stole it. Look at those eyebrows."

"Your eyebrows are aggressive," Travis said. "But they're not that."

Jason, though, is not going to let this one go.

"You mean to tell me after the parade, the Flyers just so happen to come out with a mascot that looks like that?" Jason said. "They'll never admit it. This thing, they f*cking modeled this thing after me." 

The Flyers' introduced Gritty in September 2018. According to his official biography, the big orange monster emerged after construction at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers' home arena, disturbed his secret hideout. Since then, he's become a well-loved figure in Philadelphia, known for his wild antics both at hockey games and on social media.

Christine Mina, the senior manager of digital media for the Flyers, told Bleacher Report that after the Eagles’ 2018 win and subsequent parade, they realized they were the only Philadelphia team without a mascot. 

"We were noticeably absent," Mina said in 2021. "And I think that was sort of the last little push we needed to get serious about it. So, summer of 2018 was when we really got to work on the concept."

So it was the Super Bowl parade that inspired Gritty. Jason Kelce might be onto something after all.