The omniscient being running our simulation must be a teenage girl with big dreams, a full heart, and Red (Taylor’s Version) on repeat. How else do you explain the straight-out-of-Wattpad romance between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, who gave scores of teen girls actually living through it in our world plenty to write about when he kissed his famous girlfriend in the center of the field after officially securing his team’s spot in Super Bowl LVIII, kicking off (hehe) next Sunday in Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium? Another point in the all-powerful teenage girl column, as noted by (who else?) numerology obsessed Swifties: the Super Bowl will be the 13th game Taylor has attended since she and Travis went public with their relationship. Take that, physicists!
To some, this will feel like Taylor Swift’s Super Bowl more than any actual player’s. (At the very least, it will certainly be the first Super Bowl in history to generate multiple fan edits set to songs from Swift’s oeuvre.) But for 49ers fans concerned about the power of the universe being thrown behind their opposition, there is one small solace: Swift is kind enough to sit back on the bleachers and let her boyfriend have his moment, which she really has been doing this whole time. With that being said, what does Swift’s presence mean for this year’s game?
While it initially seemed like Swift’s February 10th Eras Tour stop in Tokyo might force her to miss the game, fans were quick to dredge up an old clip from The West Wing that bizarrely addresses this exact situation. (Well, not this exact situation—if the show had predicted that we’d probably have to throw in the towel on our sense of free will all together—but it’s still pretty close.)
As the clip explains, there’s a huge time difference between Japan and the United States, enough that Swift will cross the International Date Line on her flight to Las Vegas, essentially putting her a day back in time. If all goes well with the show and she’s able to leave in a timely fashion (which should be more than possible due to her whole private jet situation), that schedule still allows plenty of time for her to make it into the family box before kickoff.
We all know Taylor loves a surprise song, but according to reports she won’t be performing one next Sunday (via TMZ). Beyond the fact that it must be nice to finally be an observer rather than a performer on such a grand stage, Swift had actually already turned down the opportunity long before she and Kelce were publicly an item. Usher will be the sole performer at this year’s halftime show, with Reba McEntire and Post Malone chiming in to sing the National Anthem and “America The Beautiful” respectively. Tiesto will also apparently be DJing throughout the game, too.
We obviously don’t know for sure. But based on the story arc of almost every romance novel ever written… probably. Our deepest condolences, San Francisco.
