Media (and Carrot Top) were lined up 10 deep to talk to Taylor Swift's boyfriend on Opening Night at the Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.Bob Brookover | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
LAS VEGAS — Travis Kelce has a cameo appearance in a Subway commercial that features his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes.
Only Mahomes has a speaking role in the commercial, which ends with the quarterback declaring that a footlong chocolate chip cookie might just be the best sidekick ever.
Kelce stares at his quarterback in disgust, throws down a football and walks away.
What makes the commercial funny is that everyone knows that Kelce is the greatest sidekick ever and that would still be true even if he didn’t have Mahomes as his teammate.
Want to bet on Super Bowl?
See the best Sports Betting apps
Those two, of course, have been great together. The Chiefs’ two best offensive players are participating in their fourth Super Bowl in five years and will try to win their third ring when they play against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday night at Allegiant Stadium.
But not even Mahomes can compete with the headliner that has come into Kelce’s life this season.
Yes, Taylor Swift is even bigger than the NFL and the way she has changed the face of the sport was on display Monday at Opening Night at the Super Bowl. Swift wasn’t there, but it didn’t matter. Her influence was still felt.
Walk onto the field and study the podiums and it was plain to see that her boyfriend was the No. 1 attraction. There was a nice size crowd around Mahomes at podium No. 2, but podium No. 3 was piled 15 deep and 15 wide by the time Kelce sat down to answer questions.
Carrot Top was there, too.
And guess what they wanted to know about the most?
Right out of the chute, Kelce was asked whether Swift’s impact on the NFL this season has created more pressure for him.
“You can’t put any more pressure than I put on myself, I promise you that,” he said. “But she’s definitely brought a lot of new faces to the game and it has been fun to experience that.”
The romance between Swift and Kelce was the story of the NFL season and it had such an impact on the league that commissioner Roger Goodell was questioned about it at his annual state-of-the-league Super Bowl address, which has become an invitation-only event.
In this the age of conspiracy theories, Goodell was asked if the league is scripting Chiefs’ victories to keep the Swifties interested until the end.
“I think the idea that this was a script, that this was pre-planned, that’s nonsense,” Goodell said. “It’s frankly not even worth talking about. We see two people together having fun together. That’s wonderful. I wish them well. They’re both wonderful people.”
The Swifties have been good for business. According to an NPR story, the league had its highest regular-season viewership among women since it began tracking that statistic in 2000. The Apex Marketing Group found that Swift’s association with the league has added the equivalent of around $330 million in brand value to the Chiefs and the league.
And all she has to do is show up.
“She seems to be enjoying the games,” Kelce said. “She’s a part of Chiefs kingdom right now and it’s fun seeing her enjoy football knowing that it’s kind of new to her life.”
Swift, after playing two concert dates in Tokyo this week, is expected to be in attendance for the Super Bowl. Kelce, on the other hand, was unable to be at the Grammy Awards Sunday in Los Angeles when Swift won the Best Album of the Year for a record fourth time.
“She’s unbelievable,” Kelce said. “She’s rewriting the history books. I told her I’ll have to hold up my end of the bargain and come home with some hardware, too. I was fortunate that we landed in Vegas just in time for me to turn on my phone to see her win her 13th (Grammy).
Kelce was asked if he thinks he added anything to Swifties nation the way Swift has brought unprecedented attention to the Chiefs.
“I don’t know if I brought too much to the game,” he said. “I just go out there and have fun. Taylor has an unbelievable fan base that follows her and supports her throughout her life and it has been fun to kind of gather the Swifties into the Chiefs kingdom and open them up to the football world and the sports world.”
In addition to adding to her record-setting Grammy victories Sunday, Swift also announced that she has another album coming out soon.
“I’ve heard some of it, and it is unbelievable,” Kelce said. “I can’t wait for her to shake up the world when it finally drops.”
An Entertainment Tonight reporter wanted a preview, but she wasn’t going to get one from Kelce.
“I can’t give you anything,” he said before using his fingers to zip his lips. “I leave that up to her.”
Kelce was asked how his relationship with Swift has impacted his play on the field.
“She has an amazing love for life, so just making sure I check my ego at the door and bring the right energy every single day,” the tight end said.
There was a question mixed in about older brother Jason, the Eagles’ center who appeared to be having the time of his life during a shirtless appearance in Buffalo a few weeks ago.
“That’s just who he is,” Kelce said. “He enjoys the game of football. I think the desire and the love we have for this game since we were kids, it oozes out of us and we can’t help that. With an unbelievable fan base like Buffalo … it was a fun experience. I don’t know if the Vegas crowd will want to make him take his shirt off.”
Carrot Top had a question for Kelce, too. He wanted to know if Kelce would trade one of his tickets to Sunday’s game for a ticket to one of Mr. Top’s comedy shows on the Vegas Strip. It didn’t sound like it was going to happen, but for the record it costs $75.00 to see Mr. Top live and somewhere between $5,000 and $6,000 for a Super Bowl ticket.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Bob Brookover can be reached at [email protected]
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 4/4/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 12/31/2023).
© 2024 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us).
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.
Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.
YouTube’s privacy policy is available here and YouTube’s terms of service is available here.
Ad Choices
