If you haven’t heard, Miss Americana is off the market in arguably the most American way. Taylor Swift’s new man is the starting tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs: Travis Kelce.
Kelce tried to shoot his shot with Swift back in July when the Eras Tour visited Kansas City by making a friendship bracelet with his phone number. Unfortunately for the two-time Super Bowl winner, Taylor did not meet anyone after her show that night. However, Travis got the singer’s attention when TikTok and Twitter blew up with this story. Rumors started flying about the two “hanging out”, and were confirmed last Sunday. Swift showed up to the Chiefs home stadium to support the football player, alongside his mom in his private suite. The two left Arrowhead stadium together and rode off into the sunset in Kelce’s convertible.
Swifties everywhere, American or not, are now tuning in to the National Football League to catch any of the latest content of the star-studded couple. Football can be a tricky sport to understand, especially if anytime you watch it there are just a bunch of guys screaming at the TV. Here are some basic “Football 101” rules to help you understand our beloved Taylor Swift’s boyfriend’s job.
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There are two teams, each with 53 men on the roster. The teams have both offense and defense. The offense includes players like the quarterback, tight ends, wide receivers, and running backs. These are all the guys who try to score touchdowns. The defense are the big guys who try to stop the other team from scoring. They are called tackles or linebackers.
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Each game has 4 quarters, and each quarter is 15 minutes long. The teams play 2 quarters, then have halftime, then finish the last two quarters after the break.
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To score points, the football must go through the big yellow posts with a kick for 3 points (aka a field goal) or must be thrown or run into the endzone for 6 points (a touchdown). If a team scores a touchdown, they then get the chance to score bonus points called a PAT,point after touchdown. They can either kick it in the yellow post for 1 point or go for a 2point conversion which is essentially trying to score another touchdown to get two extra points instead of just one. This is rare in professional football, but it can happen, especially when games are close in score.
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Each team gets 4 chances (downs) to score a touchdown. They get to keep trying if they get something called a first down. That happens when the team on offense moves the football 10 yards from where they first started with the football. If the team doesn’t get a first down by the 4th try, the other team gets the ball and then it is their turn to try and score.
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A penalty flag is thrown by referees when something against the rules happens. There are many penalties in the rule book, but just know that if a flag is thrown, that means someone did somethign wrong.
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The Super Bowl is the “big game” everyone gets excited about. It usually takes place around the first or second Sunday in February. You’ve probably watched it at some point in your life, whether it was for the halftime show or for the commercials. To get to this game, teams from both divisions in the league (separated by the East and West sides of the country) play in the playoffs. Their goal is to win the division to get to the Superbowl. One team from the East and West divisions competes to see who the best team is at the end of the season each year.
So those are the basics! Hopefully, you’ll be able to sit down with the football fanatics in your life and be able to understand a little bit more about what’s going on! If not, just look for Taylor in the crowd.