The Toughness Myth: Jason Kelce’s Hilarious Defeat to Frozen Costumes and a ‘Vehement’ Ban on ‘Lipic’ Reveals the Unfiltered Life of an NFL ‘Girl Dad’

Jason Kelce, the recently retired centerpiece of the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line, is a man defined by grit, strength, and an almost mythical level of toughness. His playing career was a decade-plus clinic in blue-collar intensity, culminating in a Super Bowl ring and a certain path to the Hall of Fame. Yet, for all the grueling battles he won in the trenches of the NFL, he has been soundly—and hilariously—defeated in the most unexpected arena: his own home.

In a recent, highly entertaining episode of the New Heights podcast, the legendary lineman pulled back the curtain on his life as a father to four young daughters, a life now dictated not by defensive schemes or quarterback protection, but by Disney costumes, toddler tantrums, and a shocking, non-negotiable ban on one common children’s beauty product. The conversation revealed a Jason Kelce that is part philosophical provocateur, part bewildered husband, and full-time “Girl Dad,” forced to accept that the biggest battles of his life are now fought over makeup and Halloween costume control.

The Philosophy of Fear: Why Jason Kelce Loves Scaring His Kids

Before diving into the domestic chaos, Jason Kelce offered a surprisingly candid—and somewhat terrifying—parenting philosophy to his brother and co-host, Travis Kelce. When discussing his enjoyment of Halloween, Jason quickly clarified that his joy has nothing to do with candy.

“I really enjoy scaring kids,” he admitted. “It’s one of my great pleasures in life. I try to do it to my children as often as possible.”

Travis, laughing, confirmed that his brother was dead serious. Jason defended this controversial stance with a rationale that is both deeply unconventional and quintessentially Kelce. He argued that living in a “civilized society” means humans rarely get to experience the raw emotion of fear, and he believes that feeling this emotion is a crucial part of being alive.

“It’s good to be scared sometimes,” Jason philosophized. “It’s a good emotion to feel… we don’t really get scared very often. I’m telling you, it’s a great way to make you feel alive. The juice is flowing.”

For a man who spent his life running into human walls for a living, his belief that scaring his own children is a form of emotional stimulus—a life-affirming jolt—makes a strange kind of sense. He sees it not as teasing, but as a necessary and important experience in their development, a quirky testament to the fierce, unfiltered way the Kelce family approaches life.

The Kristoff Compromise: Losing Control of Halloween

While Jason holds firm to his belief in the therapeutic power of fear, he has completely capitulated in nearly every other facet of his life, especially when it comes to his children’s aesthetics. This is never more apparent than during Halloween, a holiday where he has formally surrendered his right to choose his own costume.

The former football star, father to Finley (6 months), Bennett (2), Elliot (4), and Wyatt (6), explained that his costumes are now entirely determined by the whims of his daughters.

“For me, my costumes now are just essentially what my kids want to wear,” Jason explained. He then announced his humiliating, yet tender, fate for the year: “I’m Kristoff this year, just because Ellie and Wyatt and Benny, they’re all going as Elsa. So I’m Kristoff.”.

This is the reality of the “Girl Dad” life, where NFL legends trade in their uniforms for tunics and find themselves roped into cinematic universes centered around Scandinavian princesses. Jason recognized this irreversible change with a heavy sigh of acceptance.

“I feel like in your 30s, once you start having kids, like you don’t even get to choose anymore,” he lamented. “You get lumped in with your kids.”

This narrative of surrender is a deeply relatable one for parents everywhere, highlighting the emotional truth that becoming a father, especially to daughters, fundamentally reshapes a man’s identity, often replacing stoic toughness with a soft, Frozen-themed compromise.

The ‘Girl Dad’ Realization: The Lipic Uprising

The most telling detail about Jason’s new domestic reality came courtesy of his wife, Kylie Kelce, who joined him on the podcast to discuss the rules enforced in the Kelce household. Specifically, the battle over “lipic,” the girls’ term for lipstick.

Jason’s reputation as a hard-nosed, tough-as-nails athlete is challenged daily by the simple, colorful allure of a tube of lip color. Kylie shared the one beauty product that Jason is “vehemently against” his young daughters using.

“The girls, they love lipstick, otherwise known as ‘lipic,’” Kylie shared. When asked if they are allowed to wear it, she replied, “No, they’re not allowed because Dad is vehemently against lipic”.

This is not a light preference; it is a “vehement” ban, a word usually reserved for strong moral or political opposition. The absurdity of an NFL great deploying such intense language against a tube of lip color underscores his initial—and failed—mission as a father.

Jason once spoke about his preconceptions before having children, stating that he told himself, “If I ever have a daughter, I’m just going to treat them exactly the same as a son”. He was convinced he wouldn’t “spoil her” and was going to “raise her tough, she’s going to be hard”.

The moment his daughter was born, that conviction shattered. “The moment she came out, I was like, yeah, that’s not going to work,” he admitted. The “lipic” rule is a desperate, rear-guard action in a war he is already losing to his daughters’ feminine charm and colorful desires. Kylie hilariously confirmed that even glue sticks and non-toxic paint sticks in the house end up slowly migrating to Bennett’s lips to be put on “as lipic”. The ban, it appears, is merely a suggestion in the Kelce household.

A New Legacy of Heart

Jason Kelce’s life as a father has provided fans with a wealth of heartwarming and laugh-out-loud material, establishing him as one of the most endearing “Girl Dads” in professional sports. His commitment to his family, even when it means sacrificing his own costume autonomy and battling tiny tubes of makeup, highlights a beautiful truth: the strength required to be a great father often far exceeds the strength required to be a great athlete.

His “Girl Dad” life—where he is simultaneously instilling the “juice” of fear and being forced into a Kristoff wig—is a poignant reminder that true greatness lies not just in the records one breaks, but in the love and compromise one makes at home. Jason Kelce may have retired from the NFL, but his legacy as an iconic, tough-talking, yet ultimately powerless father of four little girls is only just beginning.