Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs teammates were amazed when Taylor Swift showed up at her first NFL game in September 2023, making her relationship with the tight end public.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and defensive tackle Chris Jones talked about Swift’s viral appearance in ESPN’s new The Kingdom docuseries, which premiered on ESPN, ESPN+ and Disney+ on Thursday, Aug. 14.
“We were in the locker room like, ‘Taylor Swift’s here.’ ‘Taylor Swift? For real? With Travis? Oh my God!’” Jones remembered in the special. “We were like, ‘Oh my God, Travis pulled Taylor Swift.’”
Mahomes said Kelce told him earlier that week that Taylor would be at the game, but he wasn’t sure it was true.
“I was like, ‘I gotta see it before I believe it,’” Mahomes explained.
In a clip of Kelce and Mahomes on the field, Mahomes is heard saying about Swift, “That’s the first person I noticed, I didn’t see anybody else.”
“You definitely felt the buzz,” Mahomes added in The Kingdom. “You could see people in the stadium moving toward where she was sitting. At the same time, we had business to handle.”
Swift first attended a game during Week 3 of the Chiefs’ 2023-2024 season, when they faced the Chicago Bears at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. At that time, rumors about her and Kelce dating were already circulating, but neither had confirmed it.
Her appearance confirmed their romance when she was spotted watching the game with Kelce’s mom, Donna Kelce. The two left the stadium together after the Chiefs defeated the Bears 41-10.
In the docuseries, the team’s Chief Marketing Officer, Lara Krug, shared that Chiefs president Mark Donovan called her the Friday before the game to let her know Swift would attend.
“I remember getting off the phone and looking out the window being like, ‘Huh … that’s a big deal,’” Krug recalled.
Donovan added that when Krug came into his office, she closed the door and asked, “‘This isn’t like normal, is it?’ I’m like, ‘No, Laura, this is not normal.’”
Swift went on to attend many more games to support Kelce and the Chiefs. In February 2024, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke about the couple on CBS Mornings.
“They’re happy, they seem to be enjoying their relationship. That’s great, in and of itself. But it has connected more fans of Taylor’s and more fans of the NFL in some ways,” Goodell said. “To see that they have a connection, now [fans] have a connection to our game and to Taylor.”
He continued, “She’s an unbelievable artist, obviously Travis is an unbelievable player. I think it’s great for the league to have that kind of attention. So, we welcome it.”
