Swift/Kelce combo takes both games to another level

For the record, I’m not a Swiftie.
I couldn’t name a Taylor Swift song if I had to, though it’s hard not to be impressed by this young lady’s business savvy and how she’s taking the entertainment world by storm. Music lovers can’t seem to get enough of the rising phenom these days, paying thousands of dollars for a concert gig or several times the regular rate for a movie theater ticket just to watch her concert on the big screen. Brilliant.
All the hype surrounding Swift and her new beau, however, who has a fan base all his own as a go-to tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, seemed like a PR gig in the beginning. Everything Swift touches these days is golden, so to be honest it seemed like highlights of her watching Travis Kelce in action early this season were a bit over the top. Good Morning America was even leading off its Monday morning NFL coverage not with the best game of the week, but with an update on the latest Swift/Kelce sighting. Who knew that one single fan could have such an impact on America’s favorite sport? I’m a Chiefs fan so I was already tuning in and pulling for big No. 87 to help anchor my Fantasy Football team.
Curiosity got the better of me this week, so I decided to tune in a bit more, trying to understand why Ms. Swift has 112 million social media followers. I dialed up a Netflix special on her sudden, and sometimes rocky, rise to fame and fortune, learning that there is more to Swift’s story than a great voice, emotion-filled lyrics and incredible stage presence.
Swift debuted her first country album at age 15, becoming one of the youngest in history to write and perform her own songs. At that young age she lived for the approval of strangers, she admitted, even starving herself to look like what she thought everybody wanted to see. Instead, she found herself living on “a hate spiral,” accused of playing to the audience as a fake and a liar.
Taylor Swift has grown up, taking her voice to another level more recently, this time knowing full well she was going to risk alienating part of her audience. Something snapped when she was a victim of a sexual assault, winning her case though in the process feeling humiliated by how women are sometimes treated. That prompted her to go against her team’s advice, endorsing democratic candidates in hopes of gaining support for equality issues.
“I want to wear pink and also talk politics,” she vowed on the Netflix special.
Personally, I don’t think fame alone makes one’s political views worth noting, but you don’t have to be a Swiftie or a Chiefs fan to know that we’re going to be seeing and hearing a lot about this rock star couple in the future. Combining fame, football, pop culture and a potential love story makes this an interesting couple to watch.
KURT JOHNSON can be reached at kjohnson@ hamilton.net