It’s not easy for Jason Kelce to generate negative press, but a viral incident in State College, Pennsylvania gave renewed attention to the recently-retired Philadelphia Eagles legend.

Jason, who has since become an ESPN broadcaster and an acclaimed podcaster alongside his younger brother Travis, took and smashed a fan’s phone after this fan berated the Kelce brothers with a homophobic slur.

The incident went viral and prompted immediate concern that Kelce’s nascent career at the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” would end earlier than anyone could have anticipated.

To Kelce’s credit, he kicked off ESPN’s coverage of Monday night’s contest between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs by apologizing for the incident and taking the lion’s share of the blame.

Kelce said he regretted the way he “greeted hate with hate” and that he “fell short this week”.

Apparently, that is good enough for ESPN — which allowed Kelce to take part in Monday’s broadcast and still has not commented on the incident, which Penn State police are investigating.

According to former NFL defensive end Chris Long, the altercation between Kelce and this now-phoneless fan speaks to a larger societal problem that has been amplified by social media usage.

Long told analyst and podcaster Kevin Clark that Kelce — widely regarded as one of the NFL’s “good guys” — becoming wrapped up in such an unsavory exchange epitomizes how “internet culture” has ruined real-life interaction.