Chiefs coach fires back after Taylor Swift is blamed for Travis Kelce's NFL struggles
Kansas City, Missouri - As Travis Kelce continues to struggle on the gridiron, Kansas City Chiefs Coach Andy Reid has hit back at speculation that the athlete's off-field life – particularly his romance with Taylor Swift – is to blame.
The 34-year-old pop star's name has been thrown into the mix as sports commentators discuss what might be behind Travis' sluggish start to the 2024-25 NFL season.
While Coach Reid didn't name-drop Taylor himself, he did shoot down the associated theories that the Super Bowl champ was "distracted."
"I know people are saying that he's old or that he has distractions, but defenses don't think that," he said, per Fox News.
"Trav is fine. He just keeps being Trav. He works his tail off. He hasn't lost a step. He's not distracted."
The conversations surrounding Travis' underwhelming performance went into overdrive as he appeared downcast on the sidelines of the Chiefs' latest showdown against the Cincinnati Bengals, which Taylor did not attend.
Travis Kelce's sluggish start stirs up Taylor Swift chatter
Former ESPN star Todd McShay bashed the tight end – and his girlfriend – in viral comments on Monday, where he argued, "Are we not allowed to say that he's out of shape, that he's been partying all offseason?
"He's been jet-setting around with the most famous person probably in the entire world, that he's drinking, going to the US Open," he continued, per Page Six.
The comments were met with some quick backlash, and fans took issue with Todd's decision to toss blame at Taylor as well.
But Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had his teammate's back as he explained that the team had drawn up plenty of plays that involved Travis, but opposing defenses had put extra coverage on him, leading him to use other players.
This isn't the first time that the Love Story singer has been dragged into conversations about Travis' performance.
When the pair first began dating, the podcast host's notably stronger numbers when Taylor was in attendance became a fan-favorite talking point.
Cover photo: Collage: Dimitrios Kambouris & David Eulitt & Kevin C. Cox / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP