Shake It Off, Travis! Broncos Tease Kelce With Taylor Swift Hit After Chiefs Loss
The budding relationship between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce has captured the attention of both Swifties and NFL fans. Whenever the pop star shows up to support Kelce at a Kansas City Chiefs game, she dominates headlines. Reportedly, the relationship between the two is casual, but has heated up. "They have been on a few dates and Taylor is smitten with him," a source told Us Weekly on September 26. Weeks later, a group photo was posted by Chariah Gordon on October 23 — who is dating Mecole Hardman Jr., a teammate of Kelce's — to Instagram, which showed Swift planting a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek.
Not long after, Kelce caused a stir when he attended Game 1 of the World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks in Texas on October 27. During the game, the tight end was spotted dancing to "Shake It Off," which was played over the speaker system. As footage of Kelce dancing to Swift's hit song went viral, several keen-eyed fans claimed his phone had a photo of the singer as his background.
Days later, Kelce heard the song played at a stadium again, but this time it was to troll him and his team. The Chiefs played an away game against the Denver Broncos on October 29, and the Broncos used "Shake It Off" to poke fun at Kelce and his teammates.
Travis Kelce plans to visit Taylor Swift on tour
The Denver Broncos defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 24-9 at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium on October 29 — an upset that marked the Broncos' first win over their division rivals (and the defending Super Bowl champions) in their last 17 meetings. To celebrate, the Broncos blasted Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" over the speaker system as their cheerleaders took the field to dance. Fans seemed to support the cheeky song choice. "They won and broke the streak. Let them enjoy it. KC failed to show up today," one user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "I guess the Chiefs just need to shake it off," another replied.
Although the Swift hit was used to poke fun at Travis Kelce and the Chiefs, the pop star was not in attendance. As reported by TMZ the day before the game, Swift could not travel for the game as she was preparing to hit the road and make international stops for her Eras Tour, which had been on a three-month hiatus.
Even though Swift will be traveling internationally, she and Kelce are reportedly going to keep seeing each other. "Taylor starts her international tour in November, and Travis is planning to be there to spend time with her," a source told Entertainment Tonight on October 19. "Travis and Taylor are very serious about their careers, and the two bond over that and want to show support for each other whenever they can," the insider added. For Kelce, having Swift at games has been a major advantage.
Fans think Taylor Swift playfully trolled Travis Kelce
During the Kansas City Chiefs' previous game against the Los Angeles Chargers, CBS posted a graphic that showed Travis Kelce performed better when Taylor Swift was at the game. The network provided stats showing Kelce averaged 108 receiving yards when Swift was in attendance versus only 46 yards when she was not. Kelce addressed the disparity on his "New Heights" podcast. "Hard for me to wrap my head around that," he said on October 25 (via Entertainment Tonight).
The "Cruel Summer" artist has seemingly had a great time taking in Chiefs games — and even appeared to have fun at her boyfriend's expense during one game. Fans believed that Swift playfully trolled Kelce when she attended the Chiefs game versus the New York Jets on October 1. Following one play, the singer was filmed jokingly punching her friend Blake Lively after Kelce had made a big on-field play. One viral TikTok highlighted the footage and claimed Swift had said, "Look at him," as she playfully made punching motions to tease how Kelce had hit his own teammates after the play.
Many others have trolled Kelce for his headline-making relationship with Swift, and he even responded to one specific troll.
Travis Kelce takes the trolling in stride
Multiple NFL commentators have had fun with the Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift relationship during broadcasts. NFL Network's Rich Eisen posted a compilation video of him making multiple Swift puns while analyzing the tight end's game. "You saw it on Thursday night, when Travis Kelce wasn't in there, it left a 'blank space ... But I think he returns today and proves to be the 'anti-hero.' Never goes out of 'style,'" Eisen said in a clip which he posted to Instagram on September 17. Kelce noticed the clip and took the trolling in stride. "Well played Rich.... Well played," he responded on Instagram, while adding both clapping and cry-laughing emoji.
Trolling Kelce because of his relationship with Swift has become a pastime of sorts for the football community. When the Minnesota Vikings were gearing up to host the Kansas City Chiefs on October 8, local radio station 107.1 My Talk put up billboards that simply read, "Beat Taylor's Boyfriend," per Sports Illustrated.
A week later, NSYNC's Lance Bass took a playful shot at the media attention surrounding Swift and Kelce. While watching the Los Angeles Chargers play the Denver Broncos on October 15, Bass had a sign that read, "Not Taylor Swift," which he held up when cameras filmed him during the game. "In case anyone was confused," he wrote on Instagram, while sharing footage of him holding the sign.