Travis Kelce talks about Taylor Swift rumors during podcast

Publish date: 2024-08-04

Travis Kelce spoke publicly for the first time since Taylor Swift flew into town to watch the Kansas City Chiefs’ game Sunday, upending his “not so personal” life and placing him “on the roller coaster of life.”

The tight end had dodged rumors surrounding a possible budding relationship with the pop superstar in weekly appearances on the “New Heights” podcast with his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce. But that changed with Wednesday’s episode.

“We’ve been avoiding this subject out of respect for your personal life — now we’ve got to talk about it,” Jason Kelce began.

“My personal life that is not so personal,” Travis Kelce replied with a smile, adding, “I did this to myself, Jason — I know this.”

Since Swift’s appearance Sunday next to Kelce’s mother, Donna, in his suite at Arrowhead Stadium during the Chiefs’ game against the Chicago Bears, sales of his NFL merchandise have increased by roughly 400 percent and his jersey has become a top-five seller. The Kelces’ “New Heights” podcast, popular since it began just before the 2022 season, topped 1 million subscribers Tuesday.

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Travis Kelce began by calling the Chiefs game “crazy. It was just action-packed. People were screaming, people were chest bumping, people were high-fiving, banging on the glass [in the suite], just doing everything.”

Popstar Taylor Swift cheered on Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 24, boosting rumors of a relationship between the two. (Video: Jackson Barton/The Washington Post)

Chief among those people doing those things was, of course, Swift. And Kelce admitted his life has changed dramatically since Sunday.

“I’m on the roller coaster, man, the roller coaster of life,” he said. “I might have noticed a few things, like paparazzi outside my house. They all have British accents, too, or something European. They have a camera in their hands, and they’re screaming my name.”

Jason Kelce cracked, “So, Trav, how does it feel that Taylor Swift has finally put you on the map?”

“Shout out to Taylor for pulling up,” he replied. “That was pretty ballsy, that was pretty ballsy. I just thought it was pretty awesome that everybody in the suite had nothing but great things to say about her. The friends and family … she looked amazing; everybody was talking about her … and on top of that the day went perfect for Chiefs fans.”

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He noted that she high-fived his mother, adding: “To see how excited Chiefs kingdom was that she was there — that s--- was absolutely hysterical, and it was definitely a game I’ll remember, that’s for damn sure. And then we just slid off in the getaway car at the end. Shout out to Taylor for coming through and seeing me rock the stage.”

Taylor Swift cheers on Travis Kelce’s Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium

It was a spectacle that even normally taciturn Patriots Coach Bill Belichick noticed, saying that Swift could be “the biggest catch” of Kelce’s career. And the Kelces speculated that Chiefs Coach Andy Reid, who joked that he had played Cupid for the pair, might have been involved. Reid formerly coached the Philadelphia Eagles, and Swift is an Eagles fan. “He had met the Swift family before, so he could have been in the background the whole time. Who knows?” Travis said. “Who knew Cupid was so big?”

As for whatever comes next, Travis Kelce said he isn’t likely to share details, although the Chiefs’ prime-time game Sunday at the New York Jets would seem to present another opportunity for Swift to take in a game.

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“I know I brought all this attention to me,” he said. “I did the whole friendship bracelet thing and told everyone how butthurt I was that I didn’t get to meet her [when she performed in Kansas City in July].”

Last week he seemed to make his move, explaining how he had invited Swift to a game at Arrowhead during an appearance on ESPN’s “Pat McAfee Show” by telling her he had seen her concert there and that she should come see him play so they could decide whose presence there was more “lit.”

“I threw the ball in her court,” Kelce had said. “I told her: ‘I’ve seen you rock the stage at Arrowhead. You might have to come see me rock the stage at Arrowhead and see which one’s a little more lit.’ So we’ll see what happens in the near future.”

The “near future” arrived Sunday. Swift is on a break from her Eras Tour, which resumes Nov. 9 in Buenos Aires.

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“You miss 100 percent [of the shots] you don’t take, baby,” Kelce said. “What’s real is that it is my personal life and I want to respect both of our lives. She’s not in the media as much as I am doing this show every single week and having fun during the NFL season on other guys’ shows.

“I’m enjoying life and I sure as hell enjoyed this weekend, so everything moving forward, I think me talking about sports and saying ‘All right nah’ [which he frequently does on the podcast] will have to be kind of where I keep it.”

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