The Chicago Bears, thumped 41-10 by the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, can find relief in knowing that many people were less interested in their humiliation than who was at the game. In a way, they were the opening act to a three-hour performance of Taylor Swift engaging with the sport of American football.
This past July, Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce used his podcast to make a cheeky joke about wanting to meet Swift after she played a show at the Chiefs' stadium. Since then, he and his brother Jason have been part of a media cycle swirling with dating rumors surrounding the two-time Super Bowl champion and one of the biggest pop stars in the world. They recently achieved the tabloid-couple step of "talking to each other," though have yet to reach "cozying up" or "canoodling." Last week Travis Kelce said he extended an invite to Swift to watch his team play, and on Sunday there she was, standing next to his mom Donna in a suite as the Chiefs picked apart the Bears. The romance was real, or at least ready to be officially unveiled by a team of hard-working publicists.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes said Kelce told him on Friday that Swift would be in attendance, but he wasn't sure if it was a joke. He also said that he hoped to eventually get to meet her. The following is a real sentence: After the Chiefs won, a Chicago news anchor who is also Walter Payton's son caught video of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift chatting and walking together on their way out of the stadium. They left in a convertible that seemed to be missing a license plate.
Tayvis is a fascinating collision of two very famous people from distinctly separate worlds. It's a little like learning that Santa Claus and the Statue of Liberty were spotted at a dimly lit bar in the East Village. Swift's every act, no matter how mundane, is diligently documented: She was spotted "cleaning up after the game" and "doing a little dance" during the Tomahawk Chop. Additionally, @tswifterastour reported that during the game, the musician was "eating a piece of chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch!"
As a pro football player, Kelce's accustomed to media attention, but it's at a different degree. Nobody's monitoring what dip he uses for his pieces of chicken. NFL teams are by nature adversarial to press scrutiny, but Kelce has the benefit of playing on a successful team that won the Super Bowl last season, and he's the best at his position, so there's a little more goodwill offered him for inviting the spotlight. He's also featured in practically every TV commercial playing during football games these days, so it's not like he has a problem with getting his name out there.
The other reason why it's so amusing to see these two together is because of how it forces these two fandoms to learn about each other. Swifties will become familiar with Andy Reid, while NFL fans will involuntarily form opinions on Matty Healy. Chiefs fans must purchase Speak Now (Taylor's Version), while Swift fans have to scout the AFC West. That said, I don't think they'll have to get too deep into each other's worlds, because this whole thing feels meticulously orchestrated and due to conclude by the time the NFL playoffs begin or Swift's next album is released.
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