Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift: two stars meet

Three years after Travis Kelce joined the NFL, the player courted 50 contestants, one from each state, on a TV dating show. BSC January! Entertainment that attracted little attention.

His profile has become hugely popular since the show Catching Kelsey It aired in 2016. He won two Super Bowls with Kansas City, scoring a touchdown in each, and was selected to play in the Pro Bowl eight times, while serving as a media personality. Presenting an episode of Saturday Night Live And with the popular American football podcast.

Kelsey and Swift, both 33, have remained mum on whether they are friends, a couple, or just two celebrities trying to cash in on each other’s fame. But fans are constantly dissecting Swift’s love life and the failed relationships she wrote about in her songs.

After weeks of speculation about a relationship between Kelsey and Swift, who this year split from actor Joe Alwyn, she attended Kelsey’s game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sunday, and watched from a luxury suite with her mother as the Chiefs crushed the Chicago Bears. Fox cameras showed Swift’s reaction almost every time Kelce touched the ball. A large group of loyal fans also followed the match, with many posting on social media that they were watching American football for the first time.

Swift, wearing a red and white suit that matches the colors of Kansas City, He left the field With Kelsey.

Despite Kelce’s relative fame in the sports world, being part of the feverish conversation surrounding Swift’s every move is another thing. Kelce has 3.2 million followers on Instagram. Swift has 273 million.

“This puts him on a completely different level than he was as a celebrity,” said Daniel Durbin, a communications professor at the University of Southern California. “This is fame at its fullest, and it has a powerful impact.”

As professional athletes approach retirement in their 30s and 40s, many of them begin planning their next career steps. Some become suspended, while… Others go to Hollywood. Basketball star LeBron James has created his own tequila brand and said he wants to own a team.

The fact that Kelsey and Swift were on the same court this weekend brought together two communities of fans that don’t normally get along. A spokesman for Fanatics, the NFL’s official retailer, said Kelce’s jersey sales were up 400 percent as of Monday.

Coaches and players in the NFL have taken notice, too.

“Travis Kelce has made the biggest plays of his career, and this will be the biggest,” Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots coach known for his blunt answers to reporters’ questions, said on a radio show. Dallas Cowboys star defensive end Micah Parsons Published in XThe previously known Twitter network said that a woman “can change your life”!

Celebrity relationships in the NFL are nothing new, but they are usually reserved for star quarterbacks who touch the ball in every game. Russell Wilson married singer Ciara in 2016; Tom Brady, winner of seven Super Bowls, spent 16 years with model Gisele Bündchen before divorcing last year.

It’s rare, but not impossible, for a hard ending to become part of the national conversation. But fueled by his stylish clothes, well-trimmed beard and haircut, and charismatic personality, Kelce became one of the NFL’s most promising stars. Before Swift, her fame was rising thanks to the candid podcast she did with her brother Jason, who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles. (Their relationship was a popular topic before last season’s Super Bowl, in which the Chiefs narrowly defeated the Eagles.)

in new Horizons, their weekly podcast, the Kelces discuss their lives as professional athletes and speak with notable guests like Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. That space was where the Kelce-Swift story began.

In July, Travis Kelce said on his podcast that he wanted to give Swift a friendship bracelet during her tour stop in Kansas City, but she couldn’t meet him because she had to rest her voice. And last week, amid rumors that both celebrities were dating, Kelsey It was confirmed in an interview with ESPN He only invited Swift to one match.

“I saw you perform on stage at Arrowhead,” I said. “Maybe you should come see me at Arrowhead, see which one of us excites the crowd more,” Kelsey said.

Whatever happens with Kelsey and Swift, the attention could benefit them both.

party movie, Taylor Swift: Tour for the Ages, will make his debut next month and is already looking for a career outside the sport. It was announced this summer Los Angeles Times who considered Peyton Manning, the Hall of Fame quarterback and content company founder, as a mentor Omaha Productionsand recently signed a contract with the powerful media group Creative Artists Agency.

Emmanuel Morgan Covers sports, primarily the NFL. Previously, he worked at the Los Angeles Times, where he covered local NFL franchises and wrote articles about players, personnel and on-field trends. More from Emanuel Morgan