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Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid were spotted boarding the team bus to US Bank Stadium for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, but Taylor Swift was mysteriously absent ahead of the 4:15pm EST kickoff.
Dressed in a partially unbuttoned white silk shirt and brown pants that may have been velvet, the mustachioed Kelce boarded himself onto the team bus in Minneapolis, where he hoped to win their fourth straight game.
The team is 2-0 with Kelce’s new girlfriend, Swift, in the crowd.
She was at Sunday’s game against the New York Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the Chiefs earned a tough 23-20 victory before improving to 3-1. A week earlier, Swift was in Kansas City to watch Kelce score a touchdown in an easy 41-10 win over the Chicago Bears.
For both games, Swift was pictured in a suite next to Kelce’s mother, Donna.
Travis Kelce wore a white silk shirt and brown velvet pants on Sunday
Travis Kelce is seen boarding the Chiefs bus to US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday
Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid (right) board the Chiefs team bus to US Bank Stadium
Travis Kelce continued to push the parameters of the NFL dress code for gamedays on Sunday
Minneapolis gave the Chiefs a mixed welcome on Sunday.
A local radio station’s billboard simply read “Beat Taylor’s Boyfriend” on a purple background – the colors of the Vikings.
Another ad from pharmaceutical company Pfizer featured “Welcome” with a sweater reading “Mr Pfizer 87” on the back.
The latter billboard is a reference to the nickname given to him by injured Jets quarterback and noted anti-vaxxer Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers gave Kelce that nickname after the tight end appeared in that company’s ads for their Covid-19 vaccine.
Kelce has long prided himself on being able to compartmentalize his personal life and his professional life.
That ability has been put to the test in recent weeks.
Since All-Pro tight end Swift’s budding relationship surfaced, Kelce has become an A-list headliner himself.
Billboards popping up in Minneapolis mocking Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce
The town waits to see if Kelce’s girlfriend, pop superstar Taylor Swift, will show up
Others, like this one from Pfizer, capitalized on the media circus surrounding Kelce’s visit
He learned that when paparazzi scoured Swift’s New York apartment last week and captured the moment he walked out the morning before the Chiefs played the Jets, while other photographers explored his own home in the Kansas City area.
“We’re learning to take pictures everywhere with the paparazzi,” Kelce admitted Friday, “but at the same time, that’s part of it. You just have to keep living and enjoying the moments.’
Neither party has revealed much about their relationship, and Kelce didn’t go into details Friday when he spoke to the media for the first time in weeks. But considering Swift has appeared twice in a suite to watch Kelce perform, including alongside his mother Donna Kelce, it’s easy to see why there’s been such an intense focus on the duo.
Patrick Mahomes wore a sharp pinstripe suit ahead of Sunday’s game against the Vikings
Swift even traveled to New York to attend last Sunday’s Jets-Chiefs game at MetLife Stadium
The timing couldn’t be much better for either of them.
Turning 34 on Thursday, Kelce is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning, and raising his profile will undoubtedly benefit his post-football career. His podcast with his brother and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, called “New Heights,” has become extremely popular, and Kelce’s mustachioed mug is suddenly popping up in ads and commercials for everything from State Farm and Hy-Vee to Pfizer and Experian.
Swift is on a break from her “The Eras” tour, but a film about it will open in at least 8,500 theaters in 100 countries next week. Movie chain AMC Entertainment Holdings, which happens to be based in suburban Kansas City, said it sold more than $100 million in advance tickets and generated the highest single-day ticket revenue in its history.
Meanwhile, the NFL and its broadcast partners are eager to capitalize on the pop culture moment.
When asked if Kelce was surprised by the sudden interest in him and his relationship with Swift, he replied, “It’s global, man – global. It’s definitely magnified.’
All the while, Kelce has been trying to help the Chiefs defend their Super Bowl title. They’ve won three in a row after losing their opener to Detroit, and they’re favored when they head to Minnesota on Sunday. (No word on whether Swift will attend.)
“I felt like I was on top of the world after the Super Bowl and even more so on top of the world now,” Kelce said after Friday afternoon’s practice. “Ultimately, I’ve always been pretty good at compartmentalizing and staying focused in this building, so I’m just going to continue with that.”
Indeed, Kelce has always juggled a life outside of football.
In 2016, he starred in his own reality dating show, coincidentally called “Catching Kelce.” He has pitched many products and services. And he has played in numerous high-profile golf tournaments, including a televised match alongside Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes against the NBA’s Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry just before the start of this season.
Taylor has already met Donna, but what other Kelce’s could she meet as things progress?
Yet none of that ever affected his performance. Kelce had never missed a game due to injury since his rookie season before a hyperextended knee sidelined him against the Lions; he has played every match since. And he’s riding a streak of at least 1,000 yards in seven straight seasons, resulting in eight trips to the Pro Bowl and four first-team All-Pro nods.
His success is a major reason for the Chiefs’ success. They have won the last seven AFC West titles, hosted the last five conference championships and won two of the three Super Bowls they have played in over the last four seasons.
However, Kelce’s profile has never been higher, thanks to the look Swift has put on him.
“I know I did this to myself,” he said. “I’ve been lucky enough to have fun with it. That’s all that really matters, that at least it doesn’t piss anyone off (within the Chiefs). Like I said before, I’m pretty good at compartmentalizing and making sure my focus is on winning the game, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”