The NFL, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift: The truest of true loves

A lot of people are upset that Taylor Swift has infiltrated the NFL. How dare she make money off an operation whose main objective is to make money off us?

She’s purportedly in love with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who’s purportedly in love with her. Both of them are publicity hounds. I don’t think it’s coincidence that they found each other. It’s like the bearded lady and the 8-foot man meeting at the circus canteen. What are the odds?

The Chiefs are in the Super Bowl, which means that Swift is in the Super Bowl. She has attended several of his games this season, and the TV networks haven’t been shy about showing her in a luxury box cheering on her man. She has a concert in Tokyo on Feb. 10, the day before the big game against the 49ers, and it’s unclear whether she’ll make it to Las Vegas in time. But she’ll be hovering above the proceedings, either in person or in persona. There are prop bets on whether Kelce will propose to her at the game and whether whoever wins the Super Bowl most valuable player award will mention her in his acceptance speech.

The idea of football being taken over by a pop singer and her millions of fans strikes some as sacrilegious. Right. One of the most iconic moments in Super Bowl history is Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction during the 2004 halftime show. An exposed breast has a way of taking the hallowedness out of everything in its path, including whatever happens on a football field. So a bright-red lipstick-kiss imprint on this game? Sounds like the logical step in the evolution of the NFL as a money swallowing beast that never gets full.

The New York Times had two recent stories about Kelce. The first was a portrait of his agents, who had known him since he was a player at the University of Cincinnati. The gist of the article was that his pursuit of fame and fortune had begun in college. He wanted it all — to be a great player and to use that greatness as a springboard to various off-field endeavors. Unmentioned was that a liaison with one of the world’s most famous people seemed to be right in Kelce’s wheelhouse. Keeping him away from someone like Swift, and vice versa, was like keeping an anteater from ants.

I’m sure this is the truest of true loves. But, hey, who’s going to say no to some free pub?

The second Times article was disturbing. It chronicled the conspiracy theories that have sprung up around Swift and her romance with Kelce. According to Times writer Jonathan Weisman, Swift’s part in the Super Bowl has sent some of former President Donald Trump supporters into an apoplectic frenzy:

“The conspiracy theories coming out of the Make America Great Again contingent were already legion: that Ms. Swift is a secret agent of the Pentagon; that she is bolstering her fan base in preparation for her endorsement of President Biden’s re-election; or that she and Mr. Kelce are a contrived couple, assembled to boost the NFL or COVID vaccines or Democrats or whatever.

“... The pro-Trump broadcaster Mike Crispi (claimed before the AFC Championship Game) that the National Football League is ‘rigged in order to spread Democrat propaganda: Calling it now: KC wins, goes to Super Bowl, Swift comes out at the halftime show and endorses Joe Biden with Kelce at midfield.’ ”

There’s more than a little irony in the stick-to-sports crowd turning the Super Bowl into everything but sports. It’s true that Kelce has done public-service ads urging people to get vaccine shots. It’s true that Swift has urged her fans to register to vote and that registrations have surged because of it. But neither truth is a logical entree into transforming the Super Bowl into a political football.

The Kelce-Swift alliance is what mega-fame looks like, in all its glorious and inglorious facets. This is what it looks like when worlds collide. The NFL is about so much more than its main product. The Super Bowl halftime ads have become a communal American ritual. Swift doesn’t seem to need the NFL (she has 279 million Instagram followers), but fame apparently is like money: There’s no such thing as too much.

A football game is going to take place in less than two weeks, we’re told. Big touchdowns and big hits can be expected. So can a big halftime show. That’s entertainment. And true love.