Taylor Swift turned 34 on Wednesday and there was only one question that remained: Where was Travis Kelce?
Well, he had a great excuse.
He has a job.
The eight-time Pro Bowl tight end heads into a Week 15 matchup against the New England Patriots — and well, sometimes a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. It’s called practice.
According to Entertainment Tonight, Kelce reportedly, citing sources, “remains committed to playing his best and doing his best on and off the field. The team practices are critical, mandatory to attend, and something he takes very seriously. So, it’s no surprise he stayed in Kansas City ahead of this weekend’s game.”
Travis Kelce was noticeably absent during Taylor Swift's 34th birthday celebration in New York City, but for a good reason.
A source tells ET that he "remains committed to playing his best and doing his best on and off the field. The team practices are critical, mandatory to… pic.twitter.com/0ej8IupnJx
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) December 14, 2023
The reactions from the sports world were great.
my favorite part of this entire relationship is watching outlets like Entertainment Tonight learn about sports schedules https://t.co/QBdmEvZery
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) December 15, 2023
Id love to talk to the author of this story, who spent all afternoon talking to sources on whether or not NFL practice is mandatory and important. https://t.co/juWXLg2puU
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) December 15, 2023
I truly cannot stop laughing at how we needed a source here to confirm NFL practices are… *checks notes* mandatory https://t.co/PMQr0xQt0q
— Jenna Harner (@JennaHarner11) December 15, 2023
Swift posted a photo on Instagram of the birthday celebration in which you can clearly see the absence of Kelce.
View this post on Instagram
But it looked like an amazing time.
With the Kansas City Chiefs amid a rare two-game losing streak, it’s been a subject for Kelce that he’s been outspoken about. He recently opened up about it on the New Heights podcast that he co-hosts with his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.
“What’s real is we got guys that can play this game, and we’ve got guys that we can have success with, and win with, and win championships with,” he said, via Fox News. “I know it. I’ve been on championship-caliber teams. … I just wanted to make sure that Chiefs Kingdom, everybody knows that we have everybody we need, and we’re going to get it fixed, man.”
Kelce hasn’t reached 100 receiving years in his last five games and is looking at career-low numbers across in yards-per catch this season.
Nevertheless, the absence of Kelce isn’t really an absence. He has to practice. I know it’s not exactly Allen Iverson-esque to talk about, but that’s what you have to do if you want to play in the NFL.
