Sunday Night Football? No. Let’s call it Sunday Night Rom-com…because ahead of the Kansas City vs NY Jets game on Sunday, nobody’s talking about what will happen on the field right now; what we’re talking about is who might be watching what’s happening on the field. Taylor Swift, of course. 

 

As mentioned yesterday, multiple outlets had reported that Taylor was looking into attending and her team was in touch with Met Life Stadium to go over logistics. Last night NBC confirmed with a source that she will indeed be there. Since she’s based in New York, the Kansas City schedule just conveniently worked out for them that way. In response to the speculation that she’ll be there though, ticket resellers are now the latest recipients of the Taylor Swift bump – and remember, prior to this there was a bit of a slump for Jets tickets after Aaron Rodgers’s season-ending injury. 

Taylor and Travis, right now, are a pop culture supernova. American football is the biggest sport in the United States, and Taylor is a metaverse unto herself. It’s a unicorn gossip event we’re witnessing right now. Like the gossip universe’s equivalent of Comet C. Which is why the discourse about their situationship has taken over the game. People can’t stop talking about them and asking about them. 

 

Travis’s brother, Jason, was just asked again about Taylor and Travis’s first public date last weekend and his response suggests that this has been happening for a while. 

So now we’ve added another dimension to a story that was already the culture’s primary preoccupation because those gross questions about the “bases” and the “gears”… 

 

I mean that’s the world Taylor has crossed over into now. Sports media, and ESPECIALLY American football media, is full of dude bros and misogyny. This is the kind of stupid sh-t we’ll be hearing more and more of if Taylor and Travis keep this going. And it’ll be interesting to see how he handles it. Because unlike popstars and actors, NFL plays are expected to be available to the media regularly. Pre-game, post-game, it’s standard for them to be called to press conferences, league interviews, broadcaster interviews, unlike other celebrities, players aren’t hidden behind publicists in the same way.

Right now, Travis seems to be enjoying the experience. He may even be actively looking to comment on it, which is what happened yesterday when Mark Cuban decided to force his way into the chat, resulting in an eyeroll from Stephen A Smith, which is the correct reaction: 

 

But then… Travis actually replied: 

See, this is why gossips are so enjoying Travis right now. Because he’s good at this. It was a perfect response – to the point, concise, and a sports reference, and it’s funny. And, on top of all that, he gave it some fuel. Here’s the best tight end in the NFL putting himself on blast that he would do anything to keep his starting position as Taylor’s current love interest. 

 

Which has been his game plan for weeks now, starting with telling the story about shooting his shot at her concert this summer and the friendship bracelet and inviting her to the game and putting the ball in her court and… 

“[He’l] be the prince and [she’ll] be the princess 

It’s a love story 

Baby, just say yes”

Right?! This is why! This is why I can’t! Can’t look away! It’s the best show on any screen right now!

For now, anyway. 

There are obstacles to every love story. Otherwise it’s not a good story, it’s a rom-com after all, and she would know, it's what makes her such a good songwriter. Monsters and witches, storms and other disasters, they’re on the smooth flow right now but the waves are coming. Travis Kelce, right now at least, seems very well-suited to the challenge. But can he ride with her all the way through the turbulence? Or, if you prefer to think this is a fauxmance, is that even part of the plan? 

Countdown to the Sunday Night Rom-Com, only 48 hours away. It might be the first time I actually turn it on in almost a decade.