Jason Kelce recruited by rugby star Ilona Maher as the US Olympic women's team's super fan

Jason Kelce recruited by rugby star Ilona Maher as the US Olympic women’s team’s super fan

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Recently retired Philadelphia Eagles lineman Jason Kelce and wife Kylie watch the women’s field hockey match between the Argentina and United States, at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Colombes, France. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

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United States’ Ilona Maher celebrates after scoring a try during the women’s Pool C Rugby Sevens match between France and the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, France, Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

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United States’ Ilona Maher, fends off the tackle of Brazil’s Gabriela Lima, right, during the women’s Pool C Rugby Sevens match between the United States and Brazil at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, France, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Jason Kelce went along to watch the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team at the Olympics in Paris and walked away as an honorary super fan.

The recently retired Philadelphia Eagles center and his wife, Kylie, met with rugby’s social media celebrity Ilona Maher and the U.S. women’s sevens team after their opening two games at Stade de France.

The NFL veteran, wearing a very French-looking beret and a blue, skin-tight U.S. rugby shirt, got into an arm wrestle with squad member Nicole Heavirland, shared on Instagram, and joined Maher for a quick recruiting post.

Maher introduced the idea of Kelce becoming an official super fan and told him he’d get no money or benefits, but all he had to do was say the words and the job was his.

It was a sales pitch he couldn’t resist.

“I am officially a fan. Women’s rugby, Olympics,” Kelce said in the video posted to Maher’s Instagram.

The Kelces also attended a women’s field hockey match between the U.S. and Argentina on Saturday on a busy weekend at the Paris Games.

The U.S. women won their two matches Sunday against Japan and Brazil before catching up with the Kelces, but had a tough 31-14 loss to host France on Monday afternoon ahead of their night quarterfinal against Britain.

Maher, who scored an early try against France, said she’d connected with Kylie Kelce before and “so to have her and to bring Jason along with her, I was really excited to see her.”

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“It’s really cool because Kylie and I have chatted before. She’s a really cool woman and she does a lot for women’s sports,” Maher said. Having Jason was a bonus “but you know ... he’s a girl dad. He’s somebody who supports women’s sports.

“So for him to be supporting us was really cool.”

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)