On Thursday night, millions of viewers will tune in as the Kansas City Chiefs face the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football. And regardless of whether Taylor Swift is in attendance (she’s reportedly set to be)—or if Travis Kelce even plays—their relationship is certain to be at the forefront of Amazon Prime’s broadcast of the game.
But while “Traylor”-mania has emerged as the preeminent story of the 2023 NFL season, the true key to America’s fascination with the romance between Swift and Kelce isn’t her status as the world’s biggest pop star or him being the new face of football. Rather, it’s a 6-foot-3, 295-pound, 35-year-old father of three who will be more than 1,100 miles away from Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night.
That’s right: Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce is the real reason that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are now America’s sweethearts.
Catching Kelce
While the idea of Swift dating any NFL player was sure to generate unprecedented levels of attention, that doesn’t mean that the reaction—most notably from Swifties—was always going to be a positive one. Take for instance Taylor’s last rumored relationship with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, which received plenty of backlash from her fanbase due to the British rock star’s problematic image.
While Travis Kelce has never been accused of anything as remotely troubling as racism, it would have been easy to imagine Swifities having a similar reaction to the Shake it Off singer dating the Chiefs star even two years ago. After all, this is someone just seven years removed from having his own dating show, E!’s Catching Kelce, in which he attempted to find love from a field of 50 women.
Even watching the clips back now, Kelce came off as more Gronk than Jake Gyllenhaal (another polarizing Swift ex). Kelce, himself, has since referred to his participation in the show as a “learning experience” and admitted to only taking part in it for financial gain.
While a big part of the change in the perception of Kelce—who like Swift, has his own lengthy dating history—could be chalked up to the natural maturation that occurs between the ages of 27 and 34, it would be impossible not to notice the sizable shift in the All-Pro tight end’s (ahem) reputation over the last year. Watch any NFL game this season and you’re guaranteed to see the Cleveland Heights native starring in multiple commercials, the rare non-quarterback capable of simultaneously selling auto insurance, credit score trackers, satellite TV packages (to the NFL’s chagrin), soup and yes, COVID vaccines.
So what changed?
New Heights
New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce started innocuously enough, another podcast hosted by athletes in a market full of them. Sure, this one had the distinction of being hosted by two brothers—All-Pros, at that—but the reality is that the idea of the show hardly moved the needle in the saturated world of sports podcasts.
Once the show got going at the start of the 2022 season, however, buzz started to build. This wasn’t just another football podcast hosted by two active players. It also happened to be good.
Travis certainly got the bulk of the attention for the show, which wasn’t surprising considering his status as the top weapon on one of football’s top teams—and a charismatic one, at that. Jason, however, emerged in his own right as the engine who made the podcast work. Without Jason driving the show like a seasoned broadcasting pro, Travis wouldn’t have the opportunity to showcase his Southern California cool personality and signature catchphrase: “Alright nah.”
The attention generated by the podcast hit a crescendo last February, when Jason and Travis became the first brothers to have their teams face each other in the Super Bowl. While Travis’ Chiefs emerged victorious over Jason’s Eagles, it was the Kelce family who walked away from Arizona the biggest winners, as Travis, Jason and even their mother, Donna, cemented their statuses as three of football’s most famous faces.
Brotherly Love
As accomplished on the field as Travis is—at this rate, there’s a good chance he retires as football’s most decorated tight end—one could argue that Jason is actually the more dominant player. After all, as is the case with the podcast, he’s the key ingredient to football’s most unstoppable play: Philadelphia’s “Brotherly Shove.”
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1711130648826761607
Just like the contrast between the two brothers on the field with Travis being the star tight end in a high-powered offense and Jason being the bearded unsung hero on the offensive line in a blue collar city, the difference in the two brothers’ personal lives is also glaring. While Travis has searched for love on reality TV shows and celebrity circles, Jason met his wife, Kylie Kelce, on the popular dating app Tinder.
The couple have three daughters together, the youngest of which was born shortly after the “Kelce Bowl” in February. Kylie’s need to bring her OB-GYN to the big game while 38 weeks pregnant only added another Kelce-based storyline to a Super Bowl week that was full of them.
There aren’t many NFL centers whose personal lives we’re privy to, let alone able to witness in a documentary on a major streaming service. And while the brotherly love between Jason and Travis is certainly authentic—and a big reason why both their podcast and Amazon documentary work—it also allows us to see the latter in a different light.
Whereas Travis was once pigeonholed by the public as a playboy, the prominence of the Kelce family allows us to also see him as a loving son, brother and perhaps most importantly, the fun uncle. And just like their podcast and his own team’s signature play, none of it—including the perception of Travis’ relationship with Swift—would be possible without Jason, even if doesn’t always get the credit he deserves for his role in America’s favorite Love Story.
