Are Ed and Donna Kelce Still Married? Inside the Kelce Parents’ Relationship

Are the Kelce parents still married? No. Travis and Jason Kelce’s parents, Donna and Ed Kelce, are no longer married. The former couple spent nearly 25 years together and have said they chose to remain under the same roof while raising their sons, finalizing their divorce after Jason and Travis had finished college. 

Even after separating, Donna and Ed have remained close and committed co-parents, often showing up side by side at NFL games and major family milestones to support their sons.

Ed and Donna Kelce entered the record books as the first parents to watch two sons face each other in a Super Bowl. Ed and Donna Kelce are best known as the proud parents of two standout NFL players.

They have become the definition of football power parents, having raised two Super Bowl champions. So who are the parents behind the Kelce family’s remarkable rise?

Who are Donna and Ed Kelce?

Donna and Ed Kelce are the parents of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis, 36, and former Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce, 38.

Years before Travis’ relationship with one of the world’s most famous pop stars put the family even further in the spotlight, Donna and Ed were busy in Ohio raising two lively sons and keeping them grounded.

Donna, 73, previously worked as a bank executive, building a career in commercial real estate finance.

Known for her custom split-jersey outfits, Donna has become a pop-culture icon in her own right, starring in Hallmark movies and competing on reality TV hit The Traitors.

Ed spent his career working as a dedicated sales representative in the steel industry.

He’s known for his straight-talking, no-nonsense attitude and intense devotion to his family.

How long have they been together?

Donna and Ed first crossed paths in the late 1970s in Cleveland, Ohio.

Donna was on her way to a date with another man when she stopped off at Fagan’s bar in the Old Cleveland Flats.

Ed had come straight from a hard day’s work, wearing cement-covered overalls, but his charm swept Donna off her feet.

The chemistry was so electric that Donna completely stood up her original date.

The couple tied the knot in the late 1970s and settled down to build a life together.

They welcomed their first son, Jason, in 1987, followed by Travis two years later in 1989.

The pair were together for a quarter of a century, navigating the chaotic world of raising two future sporting legends.

Ed and Donna Kelce Divorce Story: Are they divorced or still together?

After 25 years of marriage, the couple decided to call time on their relationship shortly after both Travis and Jason graduated from college.

Donna and Ed tied the knot in the late ’70s, about five years before welcoming their older son, Jason. Less than two years later, they became a family of four with the addition of Travis. Together, they raised their family in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and sent their sons to the University of Cincinnati, where they both played college football.

After roughly 25 years of marriage, the pair went their separate ways following both their sons’ college graduations. While the divorce presented a hardship for the Kelce family, Donna looks back on her marriage to Ed fondly. On New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, Donna assured both Jason and Travis that she has no ill will toward their father and considers him a very important person in her life.

“I don’t hate him. We’re friends to this day. We get along great,” Donna said on the podcast. “We were like a tag team with you two. We got to do all sorts of fun things. When one of you had to go out of town, the other person would help with the other child. It was perfect.”

However, as Donna explained, “sometimes people move apart.” When asked by her sons if she regrets marrying Ed, Donna responded, “No, never, because I got you two.”

In the 2023 documentary, Kelce, Donna and Ed talked about choosing to stay together for as long as they did for the benefit of their boys.

Donna grew up outside of Cleveland

Donna was born and raised in Cleveland. Her mother died when she was just 12 years old, shortly after the family — including her father and younger brother Don — had just moved out of Cleveland and to the suburbs. After her mother died, her father married a woman named Mary, whom Donna described as a “wonderful human being.” Looking back on her childhood, Donna credits her stepmother — also known as Grandma Murr by the Kelce brothers — for getting her and Don back on track.

“By the grace of God, if we didn’t have [Mary] I don’t think we would have made it,” she said during an appearance on her sons’ joint podcast, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce.

While Donna’s father was against women playing sports, her stepmother was all in. During her high school years, Donna secretly — but with her stepmother’s support and guidance – competed at the Junior Olympics in track and field and won.

“She’s just a lovely lady,” Donna told her sons of Grandma Murr, who died in 2023. “I feel so fortunate that I was raised by her.”

With her stepmother’s continued support, Donna became the first in her family to graduate college. After earning her degree from Ohio University, she pursued a 30-year career in banking. She worked for Mastercard before settling down with a local bank in Cleveland, where she specialized in commercial real estate finances.

Ed’s family has a big military background

Ed also grew up in Cleveland and, like his sons, was immediately attracted to the sport of football in high school. He gave college a try; however, coming from a family with a large military presence, Ed felt called to serve his country. “Everybody in my family prior to me was in the service,” Ed told his sons on New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. “We’re also talking about family [that] lived through World War II, so that’s what everybody did because that was the background.”

Unfortunately, the Army rejected his application due to a pre-existing knee injury. Ed did, however, go on to enlist for the Coast Guard. Albeit, his dreams were cut short during boot camp when he learned he had Crohn’s disease. Ed pivoted and went on to have a very successful career in the steel industry, occasionally bringing his sons to work with them so they could get an understanding of what work in a mill was like.

“I’d take them there — hard hat, safety glasses, boots, the whole nine yards,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “I’d tell them, ‘You can have a job like your mother’s, or you can have a job like mine.’ “

Donna first met Ed while on her way to another date

For Donna and Ed, it was love at first sight. While sharing their love story on New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, it was revealed that the couple met right before Donna was meant to go on another date. On her way to the date, Donna stopped by a bar named Fagan’s in Old Cleveland Flats, where Ed also happened to swing by for an after-work drink. The two got to talking and Donna never went to meet the other guy.

“I was supposed to go out with a guy that night. We were supposed to go to a play, and I never made it. Your dad and I talked forever,” Donna told her sons, adding jokingly, “It was a good play, too! I really wanted to see it.”

For his part, Ed is still shocked he won over Donna as he was covered in dirt from head to toe after working at the steel lab all day. “I’m in coveralls that are covered in cement,” Ed continued the story. “We started talking and she gave me a ride home. She came in and I told her ‘hold on, let me change.’ “

Not wanting the night to end, Ed recalled taking a quick shower and taking Donna to another nearby bar. “It was meant to be. It’s just the way it was,” Donna quipped.

But unlike typical messy splits, the Kelce divorce is a masterclass in co-parenting.

Donna has previously revealed that the couple actually “stood still” and delayed their breakup for years for the sake of their sons.

Ed has said that splitting up earlier would have been a “nightmare” for the boys’ hectic sports schedules, but that thanks to their sacrifice, Travis and Jason had a more stable upbringing.

Today, Donna and Ed are still friends.