I ask you one question: Who is Travis Kelce? To some, he may be the tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, but to most, he is Taylor Swift’s current boyfriend. If you look up Travis Kelce’s name on Google right now, the first thing you are going to see is articles on his relationship with Taylor Swift. Yes, I know the man is a two-time Super Bowl champion, but the only reason I knew that was because of football fans trying to prove he is more than just Taylor Swift’s boyfriend. If it wasn’t for their relationship, Kelce would have never been trending and I would have continued life never knowing who the man was. This is the same mind set for the majority of people in the world. Even if you are a die hard football fan (which are the people I am currently making ride a roller coaster of emotions), you think of Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift will pop up into your mind. Don’t be ashamed, it’s just how it works when you date Taylor Swift.
But, in the end, we know Swift made Kelce famous overnight, more famous than he probably could have ever done on his own. Even when she went to his game, the camera was on her. I mean the man was playing a football game, on a sports channel and the camera was STILL on her. It would have been just another football game, but she made it something that trended for weeks; meaning she made Kelce trend for weeks. He was turned into an overnight celebrity, Kelce himself even joked about the fact she made him more famous on multiple platforms. According to Today News, Travis Kelce’s podcast, “New Heights”, reached number one on multiple streaming platforms as of October 2023, getting so popular that Kelce’s brother, Jason Kelce, even said on air, “We are officially on the map. Both Travis and I have officially been put on the map.”
Not to mention, according to CBS News, after Taylor Swift attended just one of the Kansas City Chiefs’ games, the popstar’s appearance sent sales of Kelce’s jersey up roughly 400%. You cannot tell me that it is just because he is a good football player. That 400% boost actually put the man in the top five players in the NFL. As much as Kelce is a star in the sports world, there is no doubt that Swift has made him a mainstream media name. And this is not Kelce’s fault, the media has been focusing on the two’s relationship hard. So much so that according to WPTV, Kelce agrees with sports fans who said the NFL TV coverage has been “overdoing it” with the amount of Swift screen time.
But it comes down to this, no Swift, no mainstream media. If these two break up, Kelce will be remembered by the masses as another one of Swift’s love interests, maybe he’ll even get a song. Now I know that you might think I am a crazed Swiftie-fan, but honestly, I’m not. Of course, I know her, and I know some of her songs, but I don’t even follow Taylor Swift, yet she is the reason I know of Kelce. Do you understand how many other people are in the exact same boat as me? You do not have to be a fan of either one of them to know they are a hot topic in the media right now. And the only reason is that he happening to be Travis Kelce, is because he was the lucky guy chosen by Taylor Swift. This all could have happened with literally any other football player and Kelce would never have been a common name. So, in reality, he can thank her for the publicity.
Presley Zimmerman can be reached at [email protected]