Why We're Worried About Taylor Swift's Fast Relationship With Travis Kelce
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's rumored love story is going to have that cheer captain crying into her pompoms with seething jealousy. Swift has moved out of the bleachers and into one of the cushy suites at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, where Travis' mom, Donna Kelce, seemed pretty enchanted by the pop princess.
Ahead of Swift's appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs' September 24, 2023 showdown against the Chicago Bears, one source told The Messenger that the pair had been getting to know each other but weren't a thing yet. Meanwhile, another insider told ET, "Travis has been into Taylor for a while and definitely has a crush on her." Now, there's no convincing some fans of this potential couple that they need to calm down, and the internet is already doing what it does best by cooking up (or maybe we should say popping up) wild conspiracy theories about their rumored romance. One hilarious example? Speculation that Swift tried to avoid unwanted attention by crawling inside a human-sized wheeled box when it was time to leave her suite. There was a huge popcorn bag perched atop the box, so it was presumed to be a popcorn storage container. A source later told TMZ that Swift did not hitch a ride with the snack.
It's been delightful following the play-by-play of this pair so far, but there are some reasons we fear that the end game here might disappoint a lot of people.
Taylor Swift was possibly guilted into it
When Taylor Swift graced Arrowhead Stadium with her presence, maybe her first words to Travis Kelce should have been, "Look what you made me do." He did, after all, kinda orchestrate this whole highly entertaining spectacle. While Travis was discussing his Swiftie status on "New Heights" in July 2023, the podcast he and his brother, Jason Kelce, co-host, he recounted how it all began with a friendship bracelet. He'd hoped to give it to Swift in person during "The Eras Tour" concert he attended. Sadly, he found himself "butthurt" when he learned that Swift's voice was more precious to her than meeting an NFL great; she had to preserve it for her performances. "She doesn't meet anybody, or at least she didn't wanna meet me, so I took it personal," said Travis.
Travis later publicly revealed that he had asked Swift to attend one of his games, arguably putting pressure on her to accept his invite. "I told her, 'I've seen you rock a stage in Arrowhead; you might have to come see me rock the stage at Arrowhead," he said on "The Pat McAfee Show."
One source spoke to People about Swift's decision to accept Travis' invite, and it doesn't sound like it was because she viewed him as boyfriend material. "Taylor is very focused on work right now and hanging out with her girlfriends," claimed the insider (translation: it seems she's not looking to date anyone). "... She just thought it was a fantastic way to spend Sunday."
The Grammy winner's fame can be intimidating
Sure, Travis Kelce is considered one of the top tight ends in the NFL and has two Super Bowl rings, but compare this to Taylor Swift's 12 Grammys and record-breaking 40 American Music Awards. Unfortunately, the potential for a partner to be just a teensy bit jealous of Swift's success isn't the only potential problem that arises every time she dates someone. Swifties know all too well that some men just can't handle becoming the — let's face it — lesser half of one of Hollywood's most talked-about couples. It reportedly became an issue for Swift and actor Joe Alwyn. "Joe is very shy and never liked all of the attention that came with dating one of the most popular singers in the world," a source told Us Weekly.
Jake Gyllenhaal is another example of one of Swift's exes who purportedly found dating her overwhelming. "He said he wasn't feeling it anymore and was uncomfortable with all the attention they got," an insider dished to Us Weekly after the pair's 2010 breakup.
Kelce may be feeling like he's bitten off a bit more than he can chew as well. "He is a little embarrassed at how much attention they are getting," a source told The Messenger days before Swift's Arrowhead Stadium outing. It seemingly wasn't bad enough to deter Kelce from wanting to see where things go with Swift, but the more time they spend together, the more the intensity of that attention will increase.
Travis Kelce wouldn't commit
Before Travis Kelce's public pursuit of Taylor Swift became a national obsession, his last serious relationship was with Kayla Nicole, a sports journalist and model. They dated on and off for half a decade, and Nicole let it be known that she really wanted Travis to put a ring on it. In the captions of a since-deleted 2022 TikTok video, she wrote, "You're not stupid Kayla. No, I am actually. Thought I'd get wifed after dating for 5 years. That's 1,825 days." Travis' dad, Ed Kelce, also believed that the NFL star would propose to Nicole until he realized something about his son that Swift might want to know. "He just isn't ready to settle down," Ed told "First Class Fatherhood" in February 2023. Swift may find what another of Travis' exes has to say about him helpful as well. Maya Benberry, who was Kelce's choice on the 2016 dating series "Chasing Kelce," shared her warning for Swift with the Daily Mail: "Once a cheater, always a cheater."
As for Travis, here's something he has to consider before committing to Swift: The longer a guy stays with her, the more material he provides for her music. And once she writes a song about a guy, he'll have to answer questions about it for years. For example, when Esquire interviewed Jake Gyllenhaal in 2022, he was asked about Swifties going into attack mode against him over the extended version of "All Too Well," which is thought to be about him.
Two words: Jessica Simpson
Let's face it: Taylor Swift has a type, and Travis Kelce ain't it. Almost every guy she's dated (that we know of) has been an actor, musician, or both. She's well-versed in the ways that various fanbases of the entertainment world react to their faves dating her, from Hiddlestoners to Directioners. However, she has zero experience dealing with sports fans, and she might learn the hard way that some of them love playing the blame game when their teams lose.
One of the few pairings of an NFL player and a singer to cause the same level of furor as Kelce and Swift was Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson, who, incidentally, also dated Swift ex John Mayer. In December 2007, some Cowboys fans decided that Simpson was either a distraction or a curse when Romo played horribly as she watched from a suite. "Right now, Jessica Simpson is not a fan favorite — in this locker room or in Texas Stadium," said Romo's teammate, Terrell Owens, per The Sydney Morning Herald. "I think a lot of people feel she has taken his focus away," he added, pointing out that something similar happened when Romo was dating Carrie Underwood. While talking football the following year, then-President George W. Bush joked, "We're going to send Jessica Simpson to the Democrat National Convention," per ESPN.
So, if you think the Kelce-Swift sitch is a circus now, just wait until he has the worst game of his career.
Their fast relationship might cause a sibling rivalry
By dating Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce might risk stirring up some bad blood with his brother, Jason Kelce. (It's a delicate situation, is what we're saying). You see, as of May 2023, Swift was a fan of Jason's NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles. During an "Eras Tour" stop in Philly, she told the crowd that her "Gold Rush" lyric, "With my Eagles T-shirt hanging from the door," was not a reference to the popular band. "I love the band the Eagles, but guys, come on. I'm from Philly. Of course it's the team," she said.
Amidst all the hullabaloo over Swift's appearance at a Chiefs game, Jason quote-tweeted a video of Barstool Sports content creator Kelly Keegs voicing her strong disapproval of Swift being a Travis cheerleader. "He's so gross. I have no interest in him," said Keegs. "... Everything about this I hate. ... What a betrayal for the Eagles, by the way." Jason shared the video with the words, "PREACH!!!! Go Birds!" He's also given Travis a hard time about Swift on "New Heights." After Travis told his older bro about not getting to meet Swift, Jason said, "She's a big Eagles fan. Maybe she just made something up and just didn't want to talk to you."
On X, previously known as Twitter, some Eagles fans were hilariously coping with the "betrayal" by spreading a conspiracy theory that Swift is eventually going to dump Travis as revenge for the Chiefs defeating the Eagles at the 2023 Kelce Bowl.
It's making some people irrationally angry
Apart, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were already causing meltdowns among the MAGA crowd. So, by combining their powers, we worry that they might not be able to handle the amount of vitriol that gets spewed at them. According to MTN, Swift's perceived transgression is using her massive Instagram following to get over 35,000 of her fans to register to vote. This is bad news for right-wingers because Swift previously endorsed Joe Biden for president. As for Kelce, he's managed to upset the anti-vaxxer faction of the right by appearing in a Pfizer vaccine ad. He also has a partnership with Bud Light, which still has transphobic beer drinkers in a snit over its defunct partnership with transgender model Dylan Mulvaney.
We will say, however, that some of the online attacks on Kelce and Swift have been laughably weak and, well, were swiftly ratioed by the Twittersphere. The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis, for example, arguably channeled a sulking middle-schooler by tweeting, "Taylor Swift is dumb and her music sucks." Conservative social commentator Roger Kimball quote-tweeted Davis and added, "Also, she is homely." Then there's radio host Nick Kayal, who explained why he thinks Kelce is a "woke clown." He wrote, "Kelce kneeled for the Anthem in 2017. Endorses Pfizer & Bud Light and dates Taylor Swift. Pretty soon he will be doing a podcast with Kaepernick, asking reporters to refer to him as he/him & throwing a Super Bowl watch party with Dylan Mulvaney."
Here's to hoping that the hate stays this lame.
Taylor Swift is being pitted against Brittany Mahomes
It's never fun when two women are pitted against each other when there have been no signs of acrimony between them. But because so many people can't stand Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, we immediately started to see the construction of a narrative that she must be jealous of all the attention Swift is getting. The assumption seems to be that she's the queen bee as the wife of the team's QB, and Swift is a threat to her status in the WAG hierarchy. It's already sparked a war of words in the comments section of Brittany's post-game Instagram carousel, which consists of five photos of Brittany posing. "She just had to get the attention away from Taylor Swift," one person wrote. Another comment read, "Poor thing. There's a new queen in town!"
X users also compared the two women, with one member of Team Swift writing, "Brittany Mahomes sprays champagne on fans after wins, and Taylor Swift cleans up her trash so other people don't have to. My Chiefs queen right there." Now, we have no idea how Swift and Brittany feel about each other, but what we do know is that Brittany and Kelce's ex, Kayla Nicole, are besties; in an August 2023 post on her Instagram Story, Nicole shared a video of Brittany reacting to the surprise birthday party she threw for her. So, we are a bit worried that Brittany might not be a Swiftie.
There's a ton of pressure to be America's sweethearts
Travis Kelce is the first American Taylor Swift has dated since Connor Kennedy back in 2012, and a lot of her countrymen seem to be heavily invested in her rumored new relationship already, based on the reaction to it. According to AP News, sales of Kelce's jersey increased by 400% after Swift was seen rooting for him, and X users have already decided that the pair shall be henceforth known as Traylor. The official NFL X account also showed Swift a lot of love on game day, cracking a joke about the singer being "in her RED era."
Swifties couldn't stop obsessing over every little detail of Swift's NFL experience, including what she snacked on. One photo that went viral on X was described by an excited fan thusly: "Taylor Swift was eating a piece of chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch!" So, yeah, Traylormania is real.
But if Kelce and Swift try to make a go of it, it's going to be hard for them to spend much time together; their jobs both call for them to travel a lot. They're also both at high points in their careers, so we're afraid they might buckle under the pressure to be the picture-perfect couple everyone wants them to be while maintaining the levels of excellence their fans are used to. Or maybe we're totally wrong to be worried, and someday Kelce will play in the same Super Bowl that his wife performs in. (Fingers crossed.)