Patrick Mahomes is sharing his thoughts on how the media attention surrounding Travis Kelce’s rumored romance with Taylor Swift has affected the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs team.
For the past few months, the 33-year-old pop superstar and the Chiefs tight end, 34, have been rumored to be dating. The pair have been dominating headlines as Swift makes appearances at Chiefs’ games to cheer on Kelce and his squad. Broadcast cameras quickly cut to the “Anti-Hero” singer to see her reactions after big plays and her interactions with new friends like Brittany Mahomes, Patrick Mahomes’ wife, which quickly trend on social media.
Multiple NFL players, including the Chiefs’ Super Bowl-winning quarterback, have weighed in on Kelce’s love life. Ahead of the Chiefs’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 20, Patrick Mahomes shared his opinion on how he and his teammates feel about Kelce’s personal life becoming a trending topic.
During an interview with ESPN’s Jeff Darlington on “NFL Live” Nov. 17, Patrick Mahomes was asked if the current media attention the team is receiving is comparable to the coverage they received after winning a Super Bowl.
“I don’t think it feels any different,” he replied. “People see the whole Taylor Swift and Travis (thing) and they make it a huge deal because it is a huge deal. I think it becomes a bigger deal to the fan bases than it does to the guys who are actually in the building.”
He praised Swift and said her interactions with the team are not a “distraction.”
“I’ve been lucky enough to meet Taylor and see how good of a person she is. I think you understand why it’s not become a distraction or anything like that because everybody cares about being the best they can be every day,” he continued.
Patrick Mahomes also seemed to imply he is a Swiftie. He said he might take a trip to Europe or another international location to see the singer’s “Eras Tour” when the NFL offseason rolls around next year.
Kelce has already had the opportunity to see the show in person a couple times. He was in attendance at Swift’s Nov. 11 show in Buenos Aires when she gave him a shout out during her song “Karma.”
Speaking of Kelce, Patrick Mahomes also gushed about his longtime teammate, calling him his “brother.”
“I mean, I talk about his family and my family have almost become one family because of the relationship that we have and how we’ve kind of (become these) brothers on the football field but off the football field, as well,” he shared.
The quarterback complimented Kelce for not trying to be a star or the center of attention.
“He doesn’t try to be this Travis Kelce ‘Saturday Night Live,’ guy,” Patrick Mahomes added, referencing the tight end’s surprise appearance on the comedy show in October. “He just wants to be the guy who comes to play football every single day.”
He told Darlington that that competitive nature is why they get along so well and why Kelce has strong bonds with their other teammates, too.
Patrick Mahomes explained, “I think that’s what makes him so special and why guys really gravitate toward him. We both love winning, and we love competing, and I think that’s what makes us have that same wavelength on the football field — is we’re going to compete until the very end.”
He said the entire team is looking forward to hopefully returning and winning Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 11, 2024.
The superstar athlete’s comments on “NFL Live” are the most he has spoken about the potential relationship between Kelce and Swift. He has shared few details about the two over the past few months.
In September, reporters asked him about Swift watching Kelce score a touchdown in the Chiefs’ win over the Chicago Bears.
“I heard she was in the house,” he said at the time. “I felt a little bit of pressure, and so I knew I had to get it to Trav.”
He added that Swift was “tremendous at everything she does” and he looked forward to meeting her.
A couple days later, they met for the first time at an afterparty to celebrate the Chiefs’ win.
“She’s really cool. Good people,” Patrick Mahomes told reporters. But, he was tight-lipped about their interaction.
“Like Trav said, (I’ll) let them have their privacy, and keep it moving,” he said.