The Kansas City Chiefs may have secured a winning streak this NFL season, but Taylor Swift has initiated a streak of her own; not attending her Travis Kelce’s playoffs!
After the billionaire pop star missed out on the Kansas City Chiefs beating the Atlanta Falcons on September 22, fans were sure she would not bail on their fourth match against the Chargers in Los Angeles on September 29.
However, Swift did not arrive one hour before kickoffs like she usually does for all his games, per Page Six. She earlier attended the Chiefs’ first two wins against the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals in Arrowhead Stadium.
The pop icon’s absence from Sunday’s game has created chaos, with their breakup rumors circulating the internet. Some speculations point to the fact that Swift was embarrassed by her beau’s slow start to the season with only 8 catches for 69 yards and not a single touchdown yet.
However, this is far from the truth. The pair are as strong as ever, and the billionaire pop singer is engaged in a hectic schedule leading up to the final leg of her Eras Tour, which is set to begin on October 18. TMZ reports via a source that the ‘Delicate’ singer has been busy with extensive rehearsals, which led her to miss out on Kelce’s playoffs. The outlet dismissed the breakup rumors saying that the pair are still together.
Kelce, 34, has been making headlines recently for his lackluster performance at the beginning of this NFL Season. Even though his team has secured a winning streak over the past three playoffs, the tight end’s contribution to this win has been minute. His performance had former ESPN sports analyst Todd McShay question his athleticism.
McShay noted on ‘The Ryen Russillo Podcast,’ “Every show I watch, every pregame show, halftime show, postgame show, weekday show, every broadcast I watch for the last few weeks, it’s like, are we not allowed to say that he’s out of shape?” The commentator said that Kelce had been “neglecting his football responsibilities” as a professional. He further noted, “Are we not allowed to say that he’s out of shape?” before adding, “That he’s been partying all offseason? That he’s been jet-setting around with the most famous person probably in the entire world?”
However, the Chiefs tight end delivered his best in the latest game against the Chargers with a 38-yard reception within the first two minutes of the match. The Kansas City Chiefs secured their fourth win in a row beating the Los Angeles Chargers 17-10.
The 34-year-old footballer responded to the performance criticism he received recently on the Wednesday episode of his ‘New Heights’ podcast. He noted, “I’ve had a lot of catches in this league, man, I’m not worried about the catches and the yards, and all of that, I have the most fun when I get the ball thrown my way, I mean, who doesn’t?” adding his goal for the season, “It has everything to do with execution and just making sure we’re doing everything we can to win these football games, that’s always going to be the goal.”
His teammates and Chiefs coach Andy Reid backed him up stating that Kelce has not missed a beat during his recent performances. Coach Reid said during a press conference on September 25 “I know people are saying that he’s old or that he has distractions, but defenses don’t think that,” before adding, “Trav is fine. He just keeps being Trav. He works his tail off. He hasn’t lost a step. He’s not distracted,” per Fox News.
Donna Kelce also defended her son’s slow start to the NFL season in her interview with People Magazine, saying that she is taking the negative comments about her younger son to heart. She justified his current performance blaming the “pressure that people are under, whether they’re athletes or professionals that are in front of the camera. And it’s just very difficult, there’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes.”
She further noted some of the on-field antics that contribute to a bad athletic day, saying, “You don’t realize how many times people are trying to keep you from catching the ball, or trying to trip you up or hit you… so it’s kinda hard when you’ve got people that are in your face 24/7.”
Even though Swift was nowhere to be found during the Chargers game, Kelce was not left without support. The team’s wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster, Rashee Rice, and Mecole Hardman wore jerseys with the footballer’s face and his number 87 embellished, to honor their leader, per CBS sports reports. The pictures of the same are available on a CBS Sports reporter’s X (formerly known as Twitter) account.
While no conclusive reason has been established on why the ‘Blank Space’ hitmaker could not attend Sunday’s game, we hope to see if she appears at the next Chiefs game on October 7 against the New Orleans Saints, which will take place in Arrowhead Stadium, where Swift frequents.