Wow, who knew the way to get Travis Kelce to open up about his Taylor Swift relationship was to… get him on a football podcast with a bunch of dudes??
On his own show New Heights, his co-host Jason Kelce doesn’t push it, as he’s pretty protective — big brothers are like that. But the Kansas City Chiefs tight end guested on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, and the guys there were too curious not to ask!
Pat himself wondered if the jump in stardom — from a football star to an international celebrity — caused him to pause and reflect. Travis admitted he was surprised how big his profile got so quickly. And the thing that worried him was the idea his team could think he cared more about being a star than being a football player!
“I one hundred percent had to reel it back. Everybody in this building knows my intentions. Football is my main focus, right now. There’s a lot of people counting on me in this city, in this build and in this organization. So, this is my number one focus at the time and on top of that, it’s in my heart to be able pour everything I’ve got onto the field.”
It was for the KC Kingdom that he made it clear he was prioritizing football:
“There’s been some perceptions — and people can perceive what they want — but I wanted to make sure that the men and women in this building knew that I was one hundred percent focused on this team and get this team to where we going this week. And one hundred percent I had to take a step back and look at how I was portraying myself to the world and make sure everyone knew I was focused, all while still enjoying my life off the field.”
Trav confirmed he and Taylor had been seeing one another about a month before he invited her to very publicly root for him at a game — something she understood would be a big deal in the media, sports or otherwise.
But what was it like for him? How different has it been from being one of the biggest sports stars in America? Quite a lot actually!
“It’s exciting for me, but it was all brand new. From having the paparazzi following me every single day into work, to everybody having my name on their talk show, every single day, whether it’s sports, whether it’s not sports, It’s just been a crazy, crazy ride I could have never anticipated.”
However, he has a handle on it — and finds that for the most part people are supportive:
“I’m having fun with it. The majority of the world is having fun with it, outside of all the cranky NFL fans that just don’t want to see the Chiefs win.”
McAfee theorized a lot of the angry NFL fans just thought it was a PR stunt — and once he personally realized it was the real deal, he was actually really happy for ol’ #87. Trav responded:
“It’s a beautiful thing isn’t it? We’re just two people in a relationship supporting each other and having fun with it. It’s nothing more than that. No matter how much the world wants to paint the picture and make us the enemy, we just have fun with it. We enjoy every single bit of it.”
On Taylor’s presence at games, he gushed:
“I love it when Taylor comes and supports me and enjoys the game with the fam and friends. It’s been nothing but a wonderful year.”
Unfortunately, as previously reported, he did confirm he can’t make it to her big night at the Grammys because he’s busy prepping for the Super Bowl.
Related: How Taylor Will Make It From Tokyo To The Super Bowl
Finally, the crew asked about the most controversial aspect of their relationship. What about the haters? The real jerks who blast them with idiotic theories and disgusting claims? Travis brushed it off, saying:
“She’s dealt with it forever. We hear, but we hardly ever talk about it. It’s nothing to even talk about, nothing to really bring home.”
However, he does note there are plenty of folks out there with their arms crossed over the couple’s presence — and it’s in good faith. And those people he’s confident they can bring in as fans at some point:
“We’re just trying to reel in the good ones, win them over one at a time, baby.”
Love that optimism! Ch-ch-check out the interview, with the first of multiple dives into the Taylor stuff at about the 8:00 mark (below)!
[Image via The Pat McAfee Show/YouTube/NFL on CBS/Twitter/MEGA/WENN.]