While Taylor Swift is on the bleachers watching her boyfriend Travis Kelce play for the Kansas City Chiefs, she has already started drawing up plays for the team, according to quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“She’s really interested in football and she asks a lot of great questions,” Mahomes told NBC’s Chris Simms with a smile in a recent interview. “She started drawing up plays, we might have to put one in.”
Ever since Swift began dating Chiefs tight end Kelce last year, it has placed a spotlight on the NFL, drawing new audiences to the league as two staples of American pop culture collided with another.
Roughly 123.4 million average viewers tuned in to watch the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl in February – the most for any US television broadcast since the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.
“I think it’s been cool to see the girls and the women that have really embraced watching football,” Mahomes said. “I know being a girl dad, how cool it is for me to see these little girls – these daughters – and how much they’re loving to spend time with their dad, watching football.
“And then meeting Taylor, realizing how genuine and cool she is. I think that’s been special to me because she’s, like you said, the most famous person in the world, she could not be.”
Even before Swift’s relationship with Kelce, the pop star was a football fan, referencing the Philadelphia Eagles in one of her songs and wearing their sweater while walking around New York City.
Mahomes was also quick to highlight the influence of Chiefs coach Andy Reid on their offensive play, having guided the team to three Super Bowl wins in five years.
“Obviously he’s one of the best coaches of all time, especially of offensive minds,” Mahomes said. “The way he’s able to continue to bring us new plays and bring us new motions and stuff to pique our interest and keep us in every single week of the season is one of a kind.”
Mahomes, Kelce and the Chiefs begin their quest for a famous three-peat Thursday against the Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead Stadium.