It’s been quite an eventful offseason for Travis Kelce after he helped his Kansas City Chiefs to another Super Bowl trophy in February. The tight end did a bit of globetrotting with girlfriend Taylor Swift, appearing in the audience at the Eras Tour several times and even making an appearance on stage. Now it’s back to business as the Chiefs open training camp, but just because Kelce has to shift his focus back to football, that doesn’t mean he’s losing the focus of all the Swifties who have come to love “the guy on the Chiefs.”
Fandoms are colliding at Missouri Western State University, where the Kansas City Chiefs are holding practices, with Swifties traveling from all over the country to stand beside lifelong members of Chiefs Kingdom in support of Travis Kelce and his team. No. 87 was amongst the players participating in an autograph day on July 28, and fan Terah Lee was experiencing the best of both worlds as she told People:
I'm obsessed with football obviously, and I'm obsessed with Taylor Swift. I think it's really cool [that fans are showing up]. It's two fandoms that I don't think anyone would've ever expected to converge together.
It wasn’t exactly a convergence that everybody got behind immediately, either. When Taylor Swift first started taking in games at Arrowhead Stadium, she had to deal with “dads, Brads and Chads” who claimed the spectacle of Swift’s relationship with Travis Kelce was ruining their football. However, others saw the beauty in the fandoms coming together, as girl dads bonded with their daughters over football games. I mean, how can you not love the mutual appreciation between Kelce and the Swifties, which is obvious in this TikTok video?
@labyrinthazex ♬ original sound - labyrinthaze
However you feel about it, the Swifties seem here to stay, and they proved their loyalty by traveling from all over the country for the Kansas City Chiefs training camp. One group flew in from Dallas, Texas, while 16-year-old Hannah Calhoune got her parents to drive her from Lexington, Kentucky. Hannah’s mom Alison sounded happy to do it, though, saying:
I love Taylor and I think she’s a great role model and so I love that my daughter has her to look up to and so we thought, ‘Let’s do this, Let’s go out and see Travis Kelce.'
The energy at training camp was likely already pretty high, with the Chiefs coming off their second-straight Super Bowl victory, but it’s safe to say the Swifties injected even more as they showed up with custom jerseys, posters and friendship bracelets. Longtime Chiefs fan Kelli Anderson loved the extra support from the Swifties. She said:
I just think it’s really cool that he’s bringing so much attention to Kansas City and I just love the two of them together and enjoy watching their love story unfold. It’s cool that the rest of the world is starting to appreciate the Chiefs.
Just over a year has passed since the fateful New Heights episode when Travis Kelce called out Taylor Swift for not wanting to meet him after her Eras Tour stop in Kansas City. He revealed then that he’d made her a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it. That sparked the relationship that has somehow turned football season into a bigger deal than ever.
The Kansas City Chiefs will kick off the preseason on August 10 before the regular season opens on September 5. Taylor Swift, meanwhile, remains on the Eras Tour and always has projects for Swifties to be excited about. While you wait to see Travis Kelce bust out those touchdown dances again, catch Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) with a Disney+ subscription.
