Minor League Baseball

Cleveland Guardians' Affiliate Giving Star Treatment to NFL Mom, Friend of Taylor Swift

Before her sons were Super Bowl champions, Donna Kelce grew up in Cleveland and started a career in banking.
Jami Leabow|
The Akron RubberDucks are giving away a Donna Kelce bobblehead on June 7. She is a Cleveland native.
The Akron RubberDucks are giving away a Donna Kelce bobblehead on June 7. She is a Cleveland native. | Akron RubberDucks/X

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Cleveland Guardians

The Akron RubberDucks have had “Mystery Bobblehead” on the schedule for their June 7 game against the Chesapeake Baysox.

But on Thursday, the RubberDucks – the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians – solved the mystery.

That night, they’ll be giving away bobbleheads of one of Cleveland’s own, Donna Kelce, to the first 1,000 fans.

She’s the mother of two men who one day undoubtedly will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, about a 25-minute drive south from Akron along Interstate 77 in Canton, Ohio.

Oh, and to add to her cool factor, she also hangs out with Taylor Swift.

Before she became mom to offensive lineman Jason Kelce, retired from the Philadelphia Eagles, and tight end Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, she grew up in Cleveland.

In a February 2025 story about Donna in People, we learned that her mother died when Donna was 12, shortly after the family relocated to the Cleveland suburbs. Her father remarried, and stepmother Mary supported Donna as she competed in track and field in high school and later went on to graduate from Ohio University. She was the first member of her family to graduate from college, according to People.

A 30-year career in banking, including time at a local bank in Cleveland, followed.

Last year, she made her acting debut in two football-themed movies that appeared on the Hallmark Channel: “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” and “Christmas on Call.”

But probably most important to her is her title as superfan Mom, one who has had the pleasure watching each of her sons win at least one Super Bowl. And how many moms can say they’ve been to the Super Bowl with Swift, the girlfriend of son Travis?

Donna Kelce. A proud product of Cleveland.

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Jami Leabow
JAMI LEABOW

Jami Leabow is the managing editor of Minor League Baseball on SI. Her love for the game began when her parents bought season tickets to the then-California Angels.

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