The Kelce clan is known for never filtering their thoughts, and Donna Kelce is no different. She’s open, honest, and as real as they come. Last year, she admitted that being a mom to Jason and Travis Kelce was “probably the hardest thing” she’s ever done in her life. That trademark honesty is back with a revelation that shows another side of the beloved NFL mom. 

“I did learn how to be a pilot before I had children. I actually went up and flew a plane,” Donna revealed on the Not Gonna Lie podcast with her daughter-in-law, Kylie Kelce.

It surprised Kylie so much, she went to ask Donna if she “enjoyed it?” 

“I did, but you want to have children, and it was really expensive, so I had to stop. Ed [Kelce] and I decided, well, we should probably get a house and start having kids. So I did this way before the kids were even born,” she added. 

She added that her kids probably don’t even know about it since she’s never “really brought it up.”

It fits right into the pattern of how Donna Kelce handled life: steady hands, hard calls. A Baldwin Wallace University MBA graduate and Ohio University alum, Donna spent 30 years in banking, calling herself the “major breadwinner in the family.” 

“It’s important for kids to see that a woman can do whatever she wants, but I did stand still too,” she told Glamour in 2024.

She and Ed Kelce held their marriage long enough to raise Jason and Travis under one roof. 

“My husband and I knew that our marriage was not working, but we stayed together for the kids,” she said in 2024. “Ours was a very friendly relationship. So, we could do that and make sure that their life was normal as possible. But in that one respect, I did stand still for several years until I could move on on my own.”

Those sacrifices, from grounding her pilot dreams to balancing work and motherhood, shaped the Kelce legacy. And now with both her boys grown and thriving, Donna gets to enjoy the rewards of her sacrifices. And this Thanksgiving, Jason’s house is where the Kelce family warmth takes off. 

Jason Kelce reveals their Thanksgiving plans

Jason Kelce, the former Philadelphia Eagles center, told People that “For Thanksgiving, Kylie and her mom [Lisa McDevitt] do the majority of the cooking.” 

And Donna? She still has her signature contribution.

“[My] mom comes over, she does her dinner rolls that she’s made since we were kids, and then the past couple years, I’ve been frying a turkey,” Jason said.

However, he also revealed he’s not the biggest fan of the turkey. 

“I don’t like turkey that much. The only time I really have ever had like a turkey is when I’ve seen it fried, probably [due to the] the moisture content in it.”

But between frying birds and raising four daughters, Jason and Kylie are trying to craft their own traditions. 

“One of the traditions we started is my mom has been passing new [Christmas] ornaments on. So like, going out, cutting down the Christmas tree and putting it up and putting the ornaments on the tree. I’m trying to turn that into a tradition where we do that as close to Thanksgiving as possible,” he explained. 

Well, it’s no secret how important traditions are during the holidays. They’re what keep families close. They become those little special things only the family shares. But Jason admitted they haven’t “accomplished that yet.”

Maybe that’s the beauty of it all. Traditions don’t have to be perfect to mean something. For Donna, her sacrifices turned into legacies. For Jason and Kylie, they’re still writing theirs, one fried turkey and dinner roll at a time. And you can bet mom Donna will be right there bringing those dinner rolls.