Saturday Night Live is known for its sports parodies, and their season premiere this year was no exception. There have been quite a few notable sports bits over the years, including with cold opens. And they’ve even ventured into takes on sports broadcasting. In the opening episode of Season 49, the cast spoofed the NFL’s coverage of the relationship between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, capturing the media frenzy surrounding the couple’s crossover into the world of professional sports.
It saw a take on Fox’s NFL Sunday with Curt Menefee (Kenan Thompson), Howie Long (Mikey Day), Jimmy Johnson (James Austin Johnson), Michael Strahan (Devon Walker), and Terry Bradshaw (Molly Kearney) breaking down an SNL sketch in real-time instead of their usual fare on Sunday mornings and afternoons.
Each of the panelists spent an intricate amount of time breaking down the relationship between Swift and Kelce as if they were running through the tape of Week 6 highlights. It leads to some good lines too, such as Kearney disagreeing with Johnson about the two taking it slow, saying “She’s in the luxury box hanging with Momma Kelce, knocking back cocktails with Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds). Folks, they’re official,” with Johnson replying, “I’m just glad it isn’t (The 1975 lead singer) Matt Healy,” and Walker saying “I just want to say to Travis Kelce, from one Super Bowl champion to another, this is a way bigger deal than the Super Bowl. You can not mess this up. This is very, very delicate.”
The sketch then gets to a new level when they go to Fox’s newest NFL sideline reporter Kenny Ditullio (Pete Davidson) live from MetLife Stadium for Sunday’s New York Jets-Philadelphia Eagles game. Davidson, dressed head to toe as if he were a Swiftie, wearing a coveted blue crewneck and with her ionic No. 13 stenciled on his hand, offered one particularly good line, saying he was “devastated” that Swift wasn’t in attendance, “There was a rumor online, she was coming to cheer on Travis’ brother, Jason, who plays for the Eagles, duh. But so far, no sign of blondie. I’m starting to wonder why I’m even here.”
It was a particularly good quip, especially with the NFL still figuring out how to maximize Taylor Swift’s newfound football fandom. Davidson then proceeded to break down the stills of Swift in a luxury box with Kelce’s mother, Donna, before adding in some song lyric references (“Love Story”).
From friendship bracelets to movie tickets to more song references, they leaned into every allusion to Swift and her stardom as they could, but the skit took it to another level. Thompson turned the sketch to “someone who actually wants to talk,” and low behold, Travis Kelce appeared for a cameo. Kelce, who was in New York with his rumored girlfriend after playing Thursday, stopped by 30 Rockefeller Plaza, after previously hosting the show earlier this year.
It should be noted that Swift was also there, making a cameo of her own, as she was able to introduce her friend and Saturday’s musical guest, Ice Spice.
🫶 @taylorswift13 @icespicee_#SNLPremiere pic.twitter.com/0gXEcvWQDS
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) October 15, 2023
Overall, that’s a pretty solid start for this season of SNL. It’s funny to see the show get in on and give their own impression of the Taylor Swift mania that’s taken the NFL by storm, and the Travis Kelce cameo was a great added touch.
[Saturday Night Live on YouTube]
