Joe Buck doesn’t need Kylie Kelce to tell him the City of Brotherly Love loathes him, but he would like to understand why.
“You guys f—ing hate me, I know,” the sportscaster told the crowd gathered at Philadelphia’s Union Transfer on Friday for the “They Call It Late Night With Jason Kelce” show. “But tonight, when I walk off this stage, you will love me.”
on Episode 2 of his new talk show, “They Call it Late Night with Jason Kelce.” X / NFL on ESPN
Buck came to the stage at the invitation of perhaps the most beloved man in Philadelphia, Jason Kelce. And it seemed the announcer was finally going to get the answers that had long eluded him.
Except, Kylie Kelce couldn’t quite pinpoint her home city’s disdain.
“I was raised in a house where I was taught to dislike Joe Buck,” she said.
“But why?” her husband pressed. “This is the response I get from everybody, like, nobody really has a reason.”
“I was taught that by my father,” Kylie said. “I very much recognized the pattern in which it always seemed as though [Buck] was cheering for the other team.”
“But you have no examples of this?” Jason asked.
“Of course not,” Kylie said.
Buck finally got a chance to say his piece, addressing Kylie Kelce, the people gathered at Union Transfer, and all the Philadelphians watching at home — few though they may be.
“You get pissed off at the guy telling you that whoever from the Yankees just hit a home run,” Buck said. “I get it. I actually don’t take it personally.”
In the broadcaster’s defense — and notwithstanding any anti-Philiadelphian stances he may harbor behind closed doors — the city hasn’t always given him a whole lot to work with.
Championships across the four major North American leagues have been claimed by Philadelphia’s teams just 18 times — and eight of those victories belong to teams that no longer call Philly home.
Since 2000, only the Eagles (2017) and the Phillies (2008) have hosted parades down Broad Street.
Could it be that Buck, who has been calling football and baseball for the better part of the last three decades, simply hasn’t had a whole lot to hoot and holler to Philly fans about?
Whether Philadelphians loved Buck by the time he walked off the stage on Friday remains unclear.
Nevertheless, the longtime broadcaster is certainly smart enough to know that gushing about that paltry lack of hardware wasn’t going to help his cause.