Travis Kelce has new information to share about his relationship with Taylor Swift.
No, he’s not confirming their dating status. (That would be too easy.) Instead, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end shared his feelings about how the NFL has covered his dalliance with Swift.
On “New Heights,” the podcast he does with his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, he said that the NFL has gone a bit overboard with their coverage.
“I think it’s fun when they show who’s at the game,” Travis said. “I think it brings a little bit more to the atmosphere, brings a little bit more to what you’re watching. But at the same time, they’re overdoing it a little bit.”
The 33-year-old Kelce said in an August episode of the podcast that he had a crush on Swift. That news eventually made its Swift, who then attended the Chiefs’ Week 3 game against the Chicago Bears, where she hung out with Donna Kelce, the mother of Travis and Jason. Cameras caught Swift and Kelce leaving the stadium together, and the following week she traveled to Kansas City to watch the Chiefs face the New York Jets, bringing along friends like Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.
“I just think the NFL is not used to celebrities coming to the games,” Jason added. “Like basketball has it all figured out. They’re all courtside, they’re sitting there. They show ’em once or twice, but then they get back to the game.”
The elder Kelce’s observation is astute. Despite the NFL being the biggest sport in the land, they don’t know how to handle celebrities, while MLB and the NBA have it all figured out. They know how to show LeBron James in a luxury box at a Cleveland Guardians playoff game, or Jack Nicholson sitting courtside watching the Los Angeles Lakers, without making it seem like the entire game is about them.
Despite that, it’s hard to fault the NFL for trying to flow with the current. Taylor Swift, literally the biggest star on the planet right now, is choosing to connect herself with football, something she hasn’t done with any other sport. The NFL has been given this gift of extra media attention, and for once it’s not because they’ve done something stupid or embarrassing.
But if you look at this situation from yet another angle, it feels weird and borderline inappropriate that the NFL is focusing so much attention on the personal life of one of their players, turning a possible relationship between Kelce and Swift into a marketing opportunity.
Given all of this, it’s remarkable Kelce is so balanced in his response. Saying the NFL is “overdoing” their Swift coverage is like saying the Chicago Bears are having a bad season. It’s true, but it’s nowhere near the whole story.