Before Jason and Travis Kelce were out there making NFL history, they were just two wild boys under one roof. Jason, the older one, always had a serious streak, while Travis was the life of the party. Their mom, Donna Kelce, straight-up called raising them “the most daunting task I ever took on.” She wasn’t being dramatic either. She was juggling a full-time job in banking while wrangling two high-energy boys who, in her words, “never stopped moving.”

And get this—when she said that raising the future NFL stars was a daunting task, she wasn’t talking the talk. The mother of two football enthusiasts earlier revealed how the Kelce brothers were like every other kid while growing up. But she had her struggles. She’d often get calls from neighbors complaining about the broken windows.

No wonder Mama Kelce once considered that being a mother was “the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” But amidst all this, she ensured that both her kids grew up close to each other. Whether Jason was going to watch Travis’ games or Travis was visiting to watch his big brother’s games. And for that kind of bonding, Donna and her husband kind of forced Travis to be friends with Jason.

But little did they know, there was always something brewing in the elder brother’s mind. On Wednesday, Mama Kelce stopped by the New Height Podcast, where she and both her sons talked about sibling relationships. And that’s when Travis revealed that his parents forced him to be friends with Jason. And what did Jason used to do? Yeah, he tortured his little brother, literally and figuratively.

“I think that’s what you and Dad did a great job of is that you forced Jason to be my friend,” Travis recalled. “And by doing this, Jason would then just torture me. You would find fun ways to say we’re playing together. But in reality, like playing together with Jason was, ‘Hey, Travis, you want to go be the goalie outside so I could just rip slap shots at you in the driveway?’ like, ‘Yeah, of course I want to play with you.'” Travis didn’t sugarcoat it.

Being forced to play with Jason wasn’t exactly a highlight of his childhood. Picture this: Travis’ parents asked him to play with Jason, for you know, a better bonding between the siblings. But instead of bonding over a game of catch, Travis often found himself in situations where his older brother turned “playing together” into something closer to, well, a game of “let’s see how much I can annoy my little brother.”

Not the kind of sibling relationship Travis Kelce expected, right? But looking at both of ’em now, it seems like Mama Kelce did a fine job raising the Kelce brothers. Why? Let’s be real—when something like this happens, you learn how to deal with it, push through, and maybe even laugh about it later.

And now, not just Jason and Travis have a strong sibling bond, but both guys have become a common household name. One of the best centers and tight ends in the league. No wonder moms out there will be asking some tips from Mama Kelce to raise their children (especially for two brothers), and how to make sure they grow up close to each other. Just like Jason and Travis Kelce.

Mama Kelce’s advice on cultivating sibling relationships

So, after all that forced bonding and playful torment, you might wonder: how did Donna Kelce manage to keep the peace and help her boys grow into the tight-knit duo we know today, right? Well, to make it more interesting, someone had a query for her (on the podcast) as they said, “I’m a mom of two boys, aged four and one. What are some ways that I can cultivate their relationship so they grow up to be close brothers like Jason and Travis?” 

Donna, mom of two, didn’t shy away from admitting that you don’t need to force a close relationship between your kids.“I don’t think you cultivate anything,” she replied. “I think the dynamic of the family is the dynamic of the family. You know, I didn’t try to force anything. I didn’t try to steer it in any way, I think kids are born with certain characteristics. I think some parents take too much um you know credit for their children’s um success and for their failures.” 

And honestly, she meant that. Her whole vibe was more “let ’em be” than “let’s micromanage.” See it this way: Donna never forced Jason to ask her to be a lineman or Travis to go throw passes. In fact, she just let them chase whatever they were into. “All we gave you was opportunity. You guys ran with it. We followed what you wanted, what you thought was good. Unless it was against the law, we let you do pretty much whatever you thought would be fun,” she told her kids.

Long story short: Donna’s philosophy was simple: give them room to grow and let them figure it out. It wasn’t about forcing anything—it was all about offering opportunities and letting them run with it, and clearly, it worked.