Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid were seen boarding the team bus to US Bank Stadium for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, but Taylor Swift was out until kickoff at 4:15 p.m EST mysteriously absent.
Wearing a partially unbuttoned white silk shirt and brown pants that may have been velvet, the mustachioed Kelce boarded the team bus in Minneapolis, where he hopes to win a fourth straight game.
The team is 2-0 with Kelce’s new girlfriend Swift in the crowd.
She was at Sunday’s game against the New York Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the Chiefs earned a difficult 23-20 win to improve to 3-1. A week earlier, Swift was in Kansas City to watch Kelce score a touchdown in an easy 41-10 win over the Chicago Bears.
At both games, Swift was pictured in a suite next to Kelce’s mother, Donna.
Travis Kelce wore a white silk shirt and brown velvet pants on Sunday
Travis Kelce boards the Chiefs bus to US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday
Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid (right) board the Chiefs team bus to US Bank Stadium
Travis Kelce further pushed the parameters of the NFL’s game day dress code on Sunday
Minneapolis gave the Chiefs a mixed reception on Sunday.
A local radio station billboard simply read “Beat Taylor’s Boyfriend” on a purple background – the colors of the Vikings.
Another ad from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer read “Welcome” and featured a jersey on the back that read “Mr Pfizer 87.”
The latter billboard is a nod to the nickname given to him by injured Jets quarterback and well-known anti-vaxxer Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers gave Kelce that nickname after the tight end appeared in that company’s advertising for its Covid-19 vaccine.
Kelce has long prided himself on his ability to separate his personal and professional lives.
That ability has been put to the test in recent weeks.
Since the All-Pro tight end’s budding relationship with Swift became public, Kelce has become a top headline-maker in his own right.
Billboards mocking Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce popped up in Minneapolis
The town is waiting to see if Kelce’s girlfriend, pop superstar Taylor Swift, will show up
Others, like this one from Pfizer, played into the media circus surrounding Kelce’s visit
He learned that when paparazzi staked out Swift’s New York apartment last week, capturing the moment he left the morning before the Chiefs’ game against the Jets while other photographers scouted his own home in the Kansas City area.
“We’re learning that the paparazzi are taking photos everywhere,” Kelce admitted Friday, “but at the same time that comes with it.” “You just have to keep living and enjoying the moments.”
Neither party has revealed much about their relationship, and Kelce didn’t go into details Friday when he spoke to the media for the first time in weeks. Given that Swift has appeared in a suite to see Kelce play twice, including alongside his mother Donna Kelce, it’s easy to understand why the duo is in such intense focus.
Patrick Mahomes wore a sharp pinstripe suit before Sunday’s game against the Vikings
Swift even traveled to New York and watched the Jets-Chiefs game at MetLife Stadium last Sunday
The timing couldn’t be better for either of them.
Kelce turned 34 on Thursday and is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning, and raising his profile will undoubtedly benefit his post-football career. His podcast with his brother and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce called “New Heights” continues to grow in popularity, and Kelce’s mustachioed mug is suddenly appearing in ads and commercials for everything from State Farm and Hy-Vee to Pfizer and Experian.
Swift is taking a break from her “The Eras” tour, but a film about it is scheduled to open in at least 8,500 theaters in 100 countries next week. Movie chain AMC Entertainment Holdings, which happens to be based in suburban Kansas City, said it sold more than $100 million in advance tickets and posted the highest single-day ticket sales in its history.
Meanwhile, the NFL and its broadcast partners are eager to seize the pop culture moment.
When asked if Kelce was surprised by the sudden interest in him and his relationship with Swift, he replied, “It’s global, man – worldwide. It’s definitely been magnified.”
Meanwhile, Kelce tries to help the Chiefs defend their Super Bowl title. They have won three straight after losing their opener to Detroit and are favorites heading into Minnesota on Sunday. (No word on whether Swift will attend.)
“It felt like I was on top of the world after the Super Bowl, and even more on top of the world now,” Kelce said after practice Friday afternoon. “At the end of the day, I’ve always been pretty good in this building at compartmentalizing and staying focused, so I’m just going to keep going.”
In fact, Kelce has always had a life outside of football.
In 2016, he starred in his own reality dating show, which happened to be called Catching Kelce. He has introduced many products and services. And he has taken part in numerous high-profile golf tournaments, including a televised game alongside Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes against Klay Thompson and the NBA’s Stephen Curry shortly before the start of this season.
Taylor Swift celebrates in a suite with Donna Kelce in Kansas City on September 24
Still, none of this ever affected his performance. Kelce had never missed a game due to injury since his rookie season before a hyperextended knee sidelined him against the Lions; He has played every game since then. And he has a streak of at least 1,000 receiving yards in seven straight seasons, resulting in eight trips to the Pro Bowl and four first-team All-Pro nominations.
His success is a big reason for the Chiefs’ success. They have won the last seven AFC West titles, hosted the last five conference championship games and won two of the three Super Bowls they have appeared in over the last four seasons.
However, thanks to the aura Swift has cast over him, Kelce’s notoriety has never been higher.
“I know I brought this on myself,” he said. “I was lucky enough to have fun with it. That’s all that really matters, that it doesn’t upset anyone (at least within the Chiefs). Like I said, I’ve been pretty good at timing myself and making sure my focus is on winning the game and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”