Laila Edwards called it “an incredible honor” to become the first Black woman to represent the United States in women’s Olympic hockey. The 22-year-old from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, added another milestone on Tuesday night in Milan.​

But this history has an NFL backlink too. Laila’s family launched a GoFundMe in January to cover travel costs for relatives to make the transatlantic trip to watch her play.

That campaign by her parents blew past its $50,000 goal. They ended up raising over $60,000 by early February. But how?

As it was big thanks to the Kelce brothers, in big part to a $10,000 donation from Travis and Jason, who also hail from Cleveland Heights.

And this is not the first time they were linked to Edwards. Previously, the Kelces first shouted out Laila on their "New Heights" podcast in 2023 after she made the senior national team.

During that time, she DM'd them to say thanks, never expecting a reply, but ended up chatting with Travis. “I thought, ‘I’ll just message them, thanking them, they'll never see it,’” Laila told People.

“And then Travis and I had a full conversation over DM, and that was super cool... he was a really down-to-earth, humble guy who was super supportive.”

They kept following her, giving another highlight when she hit the Olympic roster. Travis donated to the fundraiser and asked how else he could help, letting at least 14 family members.

Laila wasn’t making the trip to Milan alone. Right there with her were the people who helped make it all possible.

Laila Edwards' Support System Shows Up

The emotion around the moment also highlighted her parents' emotions around her, too. Along with them were her 91-year old grandmother, Ernestine Gray, her sister Britney, and her brother Bobby.

Her mom, Charone-Gray Edwards, admitted to the AP, “I was going to find words to describe the gratitude and appreciation. But I haven’t yet,” while her dad, Robert, kept it simple: “We’re humbled by it.” Back in January, Laila had already opened up about what the journey had cost her family, both financially and emotionally.

“Ice is expensive. Then you got to pay for a coach, the equipment,” she said. “I can’t even put into words how much money they’ve put into this and left work early to take me to a game, take me to practice... they've also mentally supported me.”

She started skating at age four, climbing from youth leagues to collegiate star at Wisconsin, where she led the NCAA with 35 goals and 71 points in 2024-25, helping win the seventh national title with 4 goals and 1 assist in 2023.​

What more do you think Laila is capable of? Tell us in the comments and follow She Got Game for more updates!

Written by

Ishika Ghosh

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu