Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
Culture > Entertainment

It’s Not Taylor Swift’s Fault The NFL Is So Obsessed With Her

In my eyes, Taylor Swift has always been the It Girl. She knows how to put on a show, creates incredible music, and has quite an entertaining life. Blondie is in the news a lot, and nearly every aspect of her life is documented: her Era’s Tour, red carpet appearances, and, everybody’s favorite, her dating life. After she cheered on Kansas City Chiefs fan-favorite Travis Kelce at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 24, the internet went crazy. 

The rumors about Kelce and Swift’s relationship have been circulating for a few months now. Kelce first spoke about attending Swift’s Eras Tour show at Arrowhead back in July. And after Swift showed up to his game on Sept. 24, she attended his game at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 1. I don’t know about you, but those rumors look like they could be turning into reality. 

While I love seeing Swift at Kelce’s games having fun, the NFL is taking it too far. After Swift attended the Sept. 24 game, the NFL changed its bio on TikTok to, “9/24/23. Taylor was here.” On Oct. 1, Sunday Night Football posted a 30-second promo video to their Twitter account using Swift’s “Welcome To New York” with the caption “Taylor Made for Sunday Night.” 

https://twitter.com/SNFonNBC/status/1707786485544476960

People are so sick of seeing a ton of NFL coverage focusing on Swift’s appearances, but she has nothing to do with it. While Swift is one of the two stars of the biggest story this fall, she hasn’t made one public statement about her relationship, the NFL, or otherwise. Any hoopla surrounding her attending two professional sports games really wasn’t her own doing. And yet if the Chiefs lose while Swift’s in attendance, you can bet she’ll be the first person blamed.

Even Kelce thinks this whole thing has gone too far. During the Oct. 4 episode of the Kelce brothers’ New Heights podcast, Jason Kelce asked Travis if he thinks the NFL is “overdoing” the whole Swiftie thing. Kelce responded, saying, “I think it’s fun when they show who’s at the game… but at the same time, they’re overdoing it a little bit.” 

Due to all of the promotion and coverage surrounding Swift and Kelce’s relationship, a lot of fans think it’s all for PR. In a tweet about a recent episode of Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take podcast, host Big Cat said, “If Taylor Swift is going to be taking over our Sundays I’m going to need to see a sex tape.”  

https://twitter.com/BarstoolBigCat/status/1708865587332501776?

Now this has gone too far! Thankfully, there are a lot of people who support Swift and have urged the media to leave her alone. Actress Rachel Zegler responded to Big Cat’s comment on Twitter, saying, “It’s not news that the media is particularly (and unwarrantedly) cruel to Taylor Swift but the way men feel entitled to speak about women, their bodies, and their sex lives needs to be seriously evaluated.” Kudos to you, Zegler. 

The moral of the story is, Swift is in no way responsible for the overwhelming amount of NFL coverage she is receiving, and this level of hate isn’t OK. Before I am a person, I am a Taylor Swift defender, and I will enjoy watching her at future NFL games. 

Eileen is a senior at Fairfield University who is studying Communications with minors in English, Professional Writing, and Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies. She has a passion for magazine writing and hopes to pursue a career in the field. Eileen is the Entertainment & Culture Intern at Her Campus where she covers all things pop culture, entertainment, and internet trends. Eileen was formerly a National Writer for Her Campus from April 2023 - January 2024. Eileen is one of the Campus Correspondents (CCs) at Her Campus' Fairfield University chapter. She oversees the entire chapter and works with her other CC to curate ideas and events for HCFU. She also mentors and trains the editorial team and helps create content and boost engagement alongside the social media team. In her free time, you can find Eileen creating new Spotify playlists, getting a sweet treat with friends, or obsessing over Taylor Swift. If she isn’t doing that, you’ll likely find Eileen with her six best friends from school talking about their “Big Three”: "Normal People," their favorite "Dancing With The Stars" performances, and Greta Gerwig's "Little Women."