Everything the Chiefs Athletes Have Said About Meeting Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is a proud member of Chiefs Kingdom in support of boyfriend Travis Kelce.

“Football is awesome, it turns out,” Swift, who started dating the Kansas City Chiefs tight end in summer 2023, told TIME the following December. “I’ve been missing out my whole life.”

Swift went to her first Chiefs game in September 2023, fast becoming a staple in their cheering section.

“Everybody stayed away [and] just let [Travis] do what he was doing,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes recalled during a December 2023 interview on CBS Mornings. “Then he started bringing Taylor around. He realized how cool of a person she was — and she is — and so for us, there were a couple of jokes here and there at the beginning.”

Athletes Who Have Defended Taylor Swift Attending NFL Games

Mahomes added, “She’s part of the team.”

After Swift went to her first game — which Kelce kept quiet until the pop star walked through Arrowhead Stadium in time for kickoff — she had a chance to bond with the NFL team.

Keep scrolling for all of the athletes’ candid quotes about meeting Swift:

Travis Kelce

Kelce first expressed interest in Swift in July 2023, noting on his “New Heights” podcast that he felt “butthurt” that the pop star allegedly didn’t want to meet during her Kansas City Eras Tour show. Upon the podcast episode’s release, Swift privately got in touch with Kelce and they started dating.

“Being around her, seeing how smart Taylor is, has been f—ing mind-blowing. I’m learning every day,” Kelce later told WSJ. Magazine in November 2023. “Obviously, I’ve never dated anyone with that kind of aura about them … I’ve never dealt with it. But at the same time, I’m not running away from any of it.”

Patrick Mahomes

Two days before Swift arrived at Arrowhead for her debut game day appearance, Kelce “calmly” informed Mahomes of the plan.

“He told me at, like, the last minute. There are some things with Trav where he, kind of, just says it and you don’t know if it’s true or not,” Mahomes joked in a postgame press conference. “Friday, he was just like, ‘Ah, yeah, I think she’s coming to the game … this weekend’ and moved about his business. … That’s just Travis.”

When Swift watched the game from a private suite with Kelce’s loved ones, he was seen giggling and waving in her general direction on the field with Mahomes. After the game, Mahomes had a chance to meet Swift.

“Taylor’s probably the most down-to-earth person that’s been on that stage for that long,” he told TIME in April 2024. “Even when she’s talking about football, when she’s learning it, you can see her business mind putting it together. It’s almost like she’s trying to become a coach. ‘Why can’t you try this, this, and this?’ She’s asking the right questions.”

James Winchester

“My first response was, ‘That’s pretty cool,’ so I walked up to Trav in the game and we were on the sideline and I just said, ‘Hey man, that’s cool she’s here,’” the Chiefs long snapper said on the “Like a Farmer” podcast in May 2024. “He’s like, ‘Wait, what do you mean? Did they put her up on the Jumbotron or something?’ “[I told Travis], ‘Jay [White, our equipment manager] just told me right there. That’s awesome, man, good for you.’ He’s just kind of smiling, like, kind of blushing.”

After the game, Winchester was able to meet Swift and realized how much of a “genuine person” she is.

“Later that night, [we] got to meet her and the first thing she said [was], ‘Hey, you’re the guys with the cute kids, because we had my son and daughter out on the field,” he recalled. “I’m like, ‘Dang, I think I just became a T. Swift fan.”

Taylor Swift's Chicest Game Day Styles at Travis Kelce's Chiefs Games

Drue Tranquill

Linebacker Tranquill revealed on the  “Zach Gelb Show” in January 2024 that the entire team enjoys teasing Kelce about his girlfriend.

“They’ve got really, really something going and we enjoy having her at our games,” Tranquill noted. “It brings a lot of energy and a lot of fun to our fans. And so that’s good for business, good for football and good for the NFL.”

Rashee Rice

“I’ve seen her, but I didn’t go up to her like, ‘Can I get a picture?’ or nothing like that,” the wide receiver said on the “Airing It Out” podcast in December 2023. “[I] wouldn’t go up to another dude’s girl. Maybe if my girl was there I would be like, ‘Can we get a picture with the girls together?’ or something.”

Mecole Hardman Jr.

After the Chiefs defeated the Los Angeles Chargers in October 2023, Swift and Kelce celebrated with other KC athletes and their partners. Hardman’s girlfriend, Chariah Gordon, posted a pic on Instagram of the foursome in which Swift kissed Kelce’s cheek.

Hardman later caught the game-winning pass in the February 2024 Super Bowl — and Swift personally congratulated him on the honor.

“She was like… ‘Good job, proud of you, good game — man, it was crazy,’” he said on “The Pivot” podcast later that month, noting Swift called his hands “magical” for making the impressive catch.

Andy Reid

The Chiefs head coach approves of Kelce’s romance, making it clear that he met Swift many years before the tight end.

“I knew her from Philadelphia. Her dad was a big NFL fan,” Reid said on The OutKick’s “The Five Spot” podcast in October 2023. “I had met her when she was real young, and her dad. … She’s a good girl, she’s into it. We’re glad she’s here.”

Clark Hunt

“She’s just as sweet as she can be,” the Chiefs owner said on CNBC’s Mad Money in January 2024, nothing he met the Grammy winner after one of her game day appearances. “I also got to see her play here [at our Arrowhead Stadium] twice this past summer and what an incredible performer. I mean, just one of the most incredible artists of our time.”

Hunt’s daughter Gracie exclusively told Us Weekly one month later that Swift was “beautiful, kind, gracious and sweet” when they met.