Breaking News: Donna Kelce Defends Son Travis from the Dads, Brads and Chads: ‘They Don’t Realize the Pressure’ (Exclusive)

Donna Kelce is calling out the “dads, Brads and Chads!”

While attending the New York City premiere of the FX series Grotesquerie in support of her son Travis Kelce on Monday, Sept. 23, Donna, 71, shared that it’s been “tough” hearing the negative comments made over the Kansas City Chiefs star’s NFL performance.

“It’s tough, it really is,” Donna tells PEOPLE at the event, addressing the NFL haters famously nicknamed “dads, Brads, and Chads” by Taylor Swift.

You know, I don’t think they realize the pressure that people are under, whether they’re athletes or professionals that are in front of the camera. And it’s just very difficult, there’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes,” she says.

The tight end’s mother adds, “You don’t realize how many times people are trying to keep you from catching the ball, or trying to trip you up or hit you… so it’s kinda hard when you’ve got people that are in your face 24/7.”

Donna attended the premiere as the Kelce family representative, as Travis was in Kansas City following his team’s victory against the Atlanta Falcons 22-17 the day before.

Travis’ girlfriend Swift, 34, used the term “dads, Brads and Chads” to describe NFL haters in her Time cover story in December 2023 as she spoke about supporting him at his games. “I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads, and Chads,” she shared at the time.

While it hasn’t been easy hearing the remark from the haters, Donna tells PEOPLE, “It’s part of the whole thing. I’ve been doing it for 15 years now. It is what it is.”

“I know when they’re out there, they’re giving everything they can. And sometimes people fall short. You don’t want to, but sometimes there are other things that are going on,” she proudly adds of Travis.

Speaking about her son’s acting debut in the upcoming series Grotesquerie by Ryan Murphy, Donna tells PEOPLE she’s “not really” nervous about it after raising Travis and his brother Jason.