Topline
Rumors that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs tight end, are an item have taken not just the internet by storm, but the NFL, too, as commentators and sports journalists have seized the gossip and poked fun at the potential couple in their broadcasts.
Taylor Swift at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo … [+] by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Key Facts
Swift and Kelce, who sparked dating rumors after reports surfaced last week the two are hanging out, quickly became the subject of jokes at the NFL’s Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars game on Sunday, where announcer Ian Eagle joked Kelce found a “blank space for the score,” a reference to Swift’s 2014 hit.
NFL Network commentator Rich Eisen also joked Kelce left a “blank space” when he was absent from a game two weeks ago because of a “delicate” injury, but Eisen said upon his return Sunday, he “proves to be the anti-hero” and “never goes out of style.”
In an Instagram video post of his Swiftian commentary, Eisen wrote: “Look what you made me do, @killatrav,” to which Kelce himself responded, “Well played Rich…. Well played 👏🏻😂.”
ESPN First Take host Stephen A. Smith praised Swift and Kelce as a pair, joking he “sincerely doubts Kelce will find anyone more successful than her,” citing her blockbuster Eras Tour, which he said was “off the chain.”
Bootleg Football podcast host Brett Kollmann poked fun at Kelce’s football abilities, joking Swift’s next album would be about how “Travis can’t dig out a 6-technique” as a tight end and he’d never be as good as New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski.
A few commentators have even asked Kelce’s brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, if the rumors are true: He said in an NFL interview last week he “cannot comment” and doesn’t know whether they’re dating, but in a Wednesday interview with the WIP Morning Show, he said he believes the rumors are “100% true.”
Crucial Quote
“I’m not going to talk about my personal life,” Kelce said through laughs in an interview with NFL Network in August after being asked about Swift. “I know what you writers want to hear. And you want to hear more about that, and I’m not going to give you anything.”
Key Background
Kelce first suggested he was interested in Swift in July, when he revealed on his New Heights podcast he made a bracelet with his phone number on it which he intended to give to Swift at her Kansas City Eras Tour stop. He didn’t get to meet her or give her the bracelet and joked that he “took it personal,” but praised the show. Speculation the pair may be dating ramped up after The Messenger reported last week they have been “quietly hanging out.” Some fans noticed Swift wore a necklace embedded with Kelce’s birthstone, an opal, while in New York on September 8, leading to speculation whether the necklace was a reference to their rumored relationship. Without mentioning Swift, Kelce said on Kristin Cavallari’s Let’s Be Honest podcast Tuesday it’s going to “take some time” to “really dive into a relationship with somebody.”
Tangent
Swift’s dating rumors with Kelce come months after she reportedly dated The 1975 singer Matty Healy for several weeks. The rumored relationship came under fire, both from Swift’s fans and otherwise, for Healy’s history of controversial comments, including remarks joking about rapper Ice Spice’s ethnicity and accusations he used the Black Lives Matter movement to promote his own music. Swift reportedly broke up with her boyfriend of six years, actor Joe Alwyn, in April.
Further Reading
Is There Something in the Air With Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce? (W Magazine)
NFL commentators had so many puns about those Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift rumors (Today)
