Once upon a time, a Bearcat alum complained on his podcast after a concert and is now engaged to one of the greatest popstars.
Travis Kelce was once a championship winning tight end for the Cincinnati Bearcats and is now a Superbowl champion for the Kansas City Chiefs, engaged to marry the one and only Taylor Swift. Yes, the one who sings “Shake it Off.”
Taylor and Travis both have varying public dating histories with Taylor having just exited a six year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn who inspired many of Taylor’s albums such as Reputation and Lover. Travis; however had been single for a bit longer than Taylor after exiting a rumored and brief relationship with Access Hollywood correspondent Zuri Hall in early 2023.
In July of 2023, Travis attended the Eras tour with a friendship bracelet and a dream. Unfortunately for him, just because he plays for the Chiefs doesn’t mean he automatically gets to meet every artist that plays at Arrowhead by just knowing the lady who guards the elevator.
Following his attempt to meet Taylor and give her a friendship bracelet that unfortunately never occurred, Travis went onto his New Heights podcast that he hosts with his brother Jason Kelce who is also a Bearcat alum and complained, “I was a little butthurt I didn’t get to give her one of the bracelets I made for her.” Travis then goes on to clarify that it had his phone number on it before assuming, “she didn’t want to meet me. I took it personal.”
Following this episode, Taylor and Travis have gone on to have a whirlwind romance, like the ones in books that Taylor has been writing about in songs since she was 15. One of those we don’t see anymore.
Since then, they have been spotted across the globe as Taylor wrapped up one of the “largest tours” in history while Travis won another Super Bowl. Travis even made an appearance on stage at the London leg of the Eras Tour in The Tortured Poets Department set back in the summer of 2024.
Throughout Taylor’s iconic Era’s Tour, Travis attended a few of the concerts, in support of his girlfriend. Just a few months after they started dating while performing her last song of the night ‘Karma’ Taylor altered the lyrics from ‘Karma is the guy on the screen,’ to ‘Karma is the guy on the Chiefs,’ causing fans to go crazy. This public nod to their relationship has since become legendary.
Taylor then went and did what she does best and she wrote a song (rumoredly) about her endgame partner. In her 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology Taylor’s song ‘So High School’ has many nods to the NFL tight end. Mainly in her lyric “You know how to ball, I know Aristotle; Brand new, full-throttle” referencing Kelce’s career in professional sports compared to her talent for writing deep and meaningful songs like poems. Also referencing how new the relationship is, as the pair had only been together for about eight months at the time of the album release and that they’re going all in together (or full throttle).
Throughout the whirlwind romance straight out of a book, everyone has been wondering if this was the one to finally and fully love the people’s popstar the way she deserved. And by golly, Taylor Swift, beloved by the people, has found the one she loves the most.
On August 26th, the couple announced on Instagram that they were engaged, just two weeks after she announced her new album The Life of a Showgirl on the New Heights podcast, where Taylor admitted she was thankful for the podcast since it got her a boyfriend, “ever since Travis decided to use it as his personal dating app two years ago.”
Good news for the Bearcat girlies as well because now we can call her an honorary Bearcat. Taylor, if you’re reading this, Travis must give you a proper Bearcat welcome and bring you to this wonderful campus (I will personally take you to Woody’s).
Two days after the engagement announcement , the happy couple would have their first public outing while engaged at Arrowhead Stadium on August 28th to cheer on the Bearcats season opener against the Nebraska Huskers. Unlucky for us, the Bearcats lost but lucky for us, Taylor was cheering on the Bearcats.
So congratulations to the happy couple, go Bearcats and get ready for The Life of a Showgirl which features 12 new songs and comes out October 3rd. The vibe is giving reputation/Midnights/RED.
Tracklist
- The Fate of Ophelia
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Opalite
- Father Figure
- Eldest Daughter
- Ruin The Friendship
- Actually Romantic
- Wi$h Li$t
- Wood
- CANCELLED!
- Honey
- The Life of a Showgirl (ft. Sabrina Carpenter)