Stephen A. Smith, Dan Orlovsky and Shannon Sharpe on First Take Photo credit: ESPN

Taylor Swift’s effect on Travis Kelce off the field is undeniable. But according to Stephen A. Smith, so is her effect on Travis Kelce on the field.

If numbers don’t lie, then it’s true that Kelce performs better when his good buddy and girlfriend Taylor Swift is in attendance. The Chiefs are undefeated with Swift watching them in-person, and Kelce has similarly enjoyed some of his best games when she’s cheering him on from the suite. According to Smith, that’s no coincidence.


“Maybe Taylor’s motivating him,” Molly Qerim said Monday morning on First Take after Kelce caught 12 passes for 179 yards on Sunday.

“I’m quite sure she is,” Smith said confidently with a very suggestive tone to his voice. “Let’s get that out of the way. I’m sure she is. I’m just saying.

“The voice is unnecessary,” Qerim said, appropriately speaking for First Take’s audience.

Surely, the unnecessary voice had people blushing, including Dan Orlovsky as he began having flashbacks to Smith’s weird vibrator comments. “Do I need a towel again?” Orlovsky asked, referencing last week, when he hid behind a towel as Smith went on an awkward vibrator rant that had the whole set cringing.

“No, we don’t need a towel,” Smith said without breaking character. “I’m just saying, she is motivational. There is no doubt.”

“I wanna be with someone that motivates me too,” Qerim later added, drawing a bit of an eye-roll from Smith.

Smith was very confident in Taylor Swift’s ability to motivate Travis Kelce, but for reasons unbeknownst to us, seemed skeptical over Qerim’s claim that she wants a motivating life partner. But can we focus on that suggestive voice Smith used for a minute? Actually, never mind, it’s probably better not to focus on the voice.

Every so often, Smith reprises his role as the self-declared “Love Doctor,” a hat he used to wear when offering relationship advice on his ESPN Radio shows and short-lived ESPN+ project, Stephen A’s World.

And when it comes to Kelce, aside from him already being a guaranteed Hall of Famer, his production splits this year do hint at the Love Doctor–I mean Smith–being right. The Chiefs’ tight end plays better with Swift in attendance.

[First Take]

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com