19/09/2026
Did you know that NFL stars Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce have Polish ancestry?
Long before the Kelce name became famous, their family’s story began in Europe, including in areas that are Poland today.
Their Polish connection comes through their mother Donna whose grandmother was Helen Henrietta Sadlowski, born in Ohio in 1897 into a Polish family. Helen’s parents were Jan Sadlowski and Henrietta nee Olszewski.
Helen married Roy Percy Blalock and their son, Donald Roy Blalock, was Donna’s father so that makes Helen the great grandmother of Jason and Travis.
Through this branch of the family, the brothers are one eighth Polish. They also have Czech, Croatian, Irish, German, English, Scottish and Welsh ancestry. Even the rare Kelce surname looks similar to Kielce, the Polish city.
Jason and Travis grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Their father Ed worked in the steel industry while Donna worked in banking and real estate. She had also competed in track and field when she was younger.
Together, they raised two energetic and fiercely competitive boys who would become two of the biggest names in the NFL.
Jason spent his sporting career with Philadelphia Eagles, won a Super Bowl and became one of the most respected centers of his generation.
Travis became one of the best tight ends in NFL history, winning multiple Super Bowls with Kansas City Chiefs.
Then, on February 12, 2023, they made history as the first brothers to play against each other in a Super Bowl.
Jason played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs won 38 to 35.
Travis lifted the trophy while Jason walked away heartbroken.
For their parents, it must have been an extraordinary night. One son was always going to win and the other was always going to lose.
As Jason and Travis became household names, the rest of the family stepped into the public eye too. Their mother became known as Mama Kelce and their father as Papa Kelce.
Jason’s wife, Kylie Kelce, is a former college field hockey player whilst Travis’s relationship with Taylor Swift introduced the Kelce family to an even larger global audience.
The brothers also created a podcast where they talk about football, family and growing up together.
Behind the championships, podcasts and public attention is a Polish connection that could easily have been lost over time.
The Sadlowski name remains part of Jason and Travis’s story.
Many families of Polish heritage have a similar history. Names changed, languages were lost and memories faded as one generation followed another.
Sometimes only a name, photograph or oral family story is all that’s left but that may be enough to begin discovering where a family came from.
For Jason and Travis Kelce, that name is Sadlowski.
What name might be waiting in your family tree?
