Pro athletes defend Taylor Swift during Travis Kelce's NFL games
Many professional athletes disagree with the “dads, Brads and Chads” who hate Taylor Swift's attendance at NFL games.
Swift is a permanent fixture at Boyfriend Travis Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs games since September 2023, with the NFL occasionally showing her on the Jumbotron and on-air when Kelce has a big play. The reporting angered some die-hard football fans, who lamented the priority given to Swift on-screen over the actual game. Swift and Kelce, meanwhile, haven't let the haters deter them (and reports have confirmed that the league has toned down how often they feature the pop star).
“I don't know how they know which suite I'm in.” There's a camera about half a mile away, and you don't know where it is, and you have no idea when the camera puts you in it. the broadcast, so I don't know if I'm on seventeen times or once,” Swift said TIME in a December 2023 profile. “I'm just here to support Travis. I have no idea if too much of me is being shown and I'm pissing off some dads, Brads and Chads.”
Kelce later marveled at the way his “amazing” girlfriend handled the reaction. “I will say this: They showed Taylor at the game and you don't see an entire home team fan base going crazy when someone wears the other team's colors,” he said that month during an episode of his “New Heights ' podcast. “It just shows you how amazing that girl is.”
Taylor Swift is piquing the interest of the NFL's biggest stars — and we're not just talking about Travis Kelce. For example, New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was present on multiple dates of Swift's Eras Tour when the show passed through East Rutherford, NJ in May 2023. “I am very proud that my dancing skills have finally developed […]
He added at the time: “They went absolutely crazy when they showed Taylor on screen. … It might have been a few Brads and Chads booing, but for the most part, everyone was fucking yelling at Taylor.
Swift and Kelce, a tight end for the Chiefs since 2013, aren't the only ones in favor of attending game day. Keep scrolling to see what the stars said in defense of Swift joining Chiefs Kingdom:
Patrick Mahomes
Mahomes, the Chiefs' starting quarterback, is a good friend of Kelce and doesn't see Swift as a distraction on game day.
“I don't think it feels any different. People see the whole Taylor Swift and Travis [thing] and they're making a big deal out of it because it's a huge deal,” Mahomes said during an ESPN sit-down in November 2023. “I think it's going to be a bigger deal for the fan bases than for the guys who are actually in the building are. . … I think you can understand why it hasn't become a distraction or anything like that, because everyone is looking forward to being the best they can be every day.”
Jason Kelce
Travis' older brother, who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, is all in on the NFL coverage of Swift because she is an “incredible role model.”
“The attention is there because the audience wants to see it. If people didn't want to see it, they wouldn't show it, I know that,” Jason joked during an interview with Cincinnati's ABC affiliate WCPO 9 in February 2024. “She is a global star and the ultimate artist in the world right now.”
He continued: “[She’s] extremely talented, an incredible role model for young women all over the world, so I think the NFL would probably be foolish not to feature her and show that she is a role model for all the young girls out there.
JJ Watt
The retired football star admitted this We weekly that he “can't understand” why football fans are “so angry” about Swift supporting Kelce's career.
“I mean, they show celebrities at games all the time. Don't act like we don't show male celebrities at games all the time,” he shared exclusively Us in January 2024. “I don't really understand why this is causing such a stir. I mean, she's literally there to support her partner, and that's what you have to do as a partner.”
Shannon Sharpe
“They lose a game, [some will say] it's because of her. And they win a game, [some will ask]'Why [are] the cameras on her?' But I like it,” Sharpe, a retired tight end, told exclusively Us in January 2024. “I like it for him. I like her being at the game. She brings a different set of eyes to the game. There are a lot of young girls and women who watch NFL football and don't care about it. And so the NFLs said, “Hey, if we get new eyes, we get new customers, we're in.”
Taylor Swift's romance with Travis Kelce has made her the talk of the NFL, but football players aren't the only athletes showing love for the singer. New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo changed his walk-up song to Swift's Reputation hit “Ready for It?” during a July 2023 match, immediately reversing his batting slump. Rizzo […]
Then Marino
The retired quarterback of the Miami Dolphins said Us in January 2024 that Swift “did not influence a single game” from her seat in the stadium crowd.
“She might as well have fun and enjoy it while she's dating one of the stars in the NFL. And what's wrong with that? Nothing,” Marino joked.
Kirk cousins
Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk cousins also considers Swift's presence a “positive for the league” despite certain fans booing her every time the Chiefs lost a game.
“I mean, fans will be fans [and] Maybe they blame her,” Cousins said Us in January 2024. “I don't know if the blame is in the right place, but I think a lot of the games she attended played very well and won.”
Charles Barkel
“When you yell at Taylor Swift that she's ruined [football]“You're just a loser,” the retired NBA All Star joked during a February 2024 episode of his series. King Charles show. “You're just a loser or an asshole. You are A or B. You are one of the two.'
Drue Calm down
“They really have something to offer and we enjoy having her at our games,” the Chiefs linebacker said on the “Zach Gelb Show” in January 2024. “It brings a lot of energy and a lot of fun for our fans. And so that's good for business, good for football and good for the NFL.”
Taylor Swift has loved being the girl in the stands amid her blossoming romance with Travis Kelce. The “Anti-Hero” singer made her first appearance at a Kansas City Chiefs game in September 2023, where she covered the Chicago Bears from the Kelce family's private suite. After cheering along with the tight end's mother, Donna Kelce, she […]
Christian Okoye
The retired Chiefs running back insisted to TMZ Sports in December 2023 that Swift had “nothing to do” with the team's competitive record.
'Taylor Swift is not on the field. Travis is playing like he always plays,” Okoye said. “Teams are doubling him now, knowing that our receivers are dropping the balls. When things are going badly for you, people have to make excuses and point fingers. Especially those who don't like the situation involving Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
Eli Manning
After news broke that Kelce planned to spend his November 2023 farewell week in Argentina to see Swift with her Eras tourthe former Giants quarterback defended the holiday.
“I think the bye week is a good time to get away from football and I think that's the idea,” Manning said. People at the time. “It is the time to rest the body, give the mind a little rest and recharge to prepare for the second half of the season.”
He continued, “I think if he travels, there's nothing wrong with traveling, going somewhere. Hey, if he wants to support his girlfriend and see her play a concert, I have no problem with that.
Carl Banks
The retired linebacker dismissed the comment during a February 2024 interview with Page six.
“I am not bothered by the negative energy. I love everything they do. I'm here for it,” Banks said. “[Their relationship] is one of the great moments of this NFL season and anyone who has a problem with it needs to deal with it harder. If you can show it to my good friend Spike Lee at every Knicks game and every opponent's game, why not Taylor?
Stephen A. Smith
The sportscaster has become one of the most vocal members of Tayvis Nation (the fan-appointed nickname for Swift and Kelce's supporters) — and regularly defends the Grammy winner's game days.
“I have to take a moment to defend Taylor Swift,” Smith said during an ESPN broadcast in January 2024. “Everyone is sitting there and acting like she's some kind of hindrance. … She's going to support her guy. To show up at a football match and the cameras are on her – that's not her fault! And excuse me, she went to the games after the concerts anyway. It's not like she used the games to boost the concerts.”
Colin Cowherd
Cowherd railed passionately about the “really weird, lonely, insecure men” who hated Swift's presence in the NFL during a January 2024 episode of his The herd Radio show.
“The fact that a pop star – the biggest pop star in the world – [is] dating a star tight end, who had one of his best games ever, and the network briefly puts them on the air, that bothers you. What does that say about your life?” Cowherd, a sportscaster, joked. “Did you know, statistically speaking, in a three-hour NFL broadcast… only 18 minutes of real football, and we have the data, there's no need to turn away. There are coach cutouts, they show fans in Buffalo on fire, commercials, reviews. [It’s] 18 minutes of real football, [which] For the record [is] about the length of five Taylor Swift songs.”
Elle Duncan
Duncan, an ESPN commentator, also mentioned the double standard during a December 2023 episode of her “Elle Duncan Show” podcast.
“It's not her fault. I'm so tired of us doing this. And we do this to women,” Duncan complained. “Are Jessica Simpson's fault [that] Tony Romo spit the piece. To remind Kim Kardashian And Miles Austin for a hot second? It's her fault. It's always the woman's fault for being 'distracting'. No one asks if Travis Kelce is distracting her from a world tour. Nobody says that. And I don't like that.”