CELEBRITY
Travis Kelce and the Chiefs Win to Stay in Playoffs as Taylor Swift Celebrates
Swift sang and swayed along with her fellow Chiefs fans with just minutes left in the game, knowing the win was near
Taylor Swift celebrated as Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs advanced in the NFL Playoffs on Saturday night with a 26-7 win over the Miami Dolphins.
Kelce, 34, had seven receptions for 71 yards in the Chiefs’ win.
With just minutes left in the game, cameras focused on Swift, who was happily singing along with her fellow Chiefs fans while she was seated between Donna Kelce and Brittany Mahomes.
The win means the Chiefs will move on to the divisional round of the playoffs next weekend. Kelce and his Kansas City teammates can reach the Super Bowl by winning next week’s game and another in the AFC Championship round the week after that.
The Super Bowl will take place on Sunday, Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.
The Kansas City Star newspaper estimated that the Chiefs have a 70% chance of reaching the Super Bowl. It would be the Chiefs’ fourth trip to the championship game in the last five years, having won it all in 2020 and again in 2023.
Amid his budding romance with Swift, 34, Kelce helped lead the Chiefs to their eighth-straight AFC West division championship and their ninth playoff appearance in a row.
The “Love Story” singer frequently attended Chiefs games throughout the season, sitting in a luxury box alongside Kelce’s parents, as well as other teammates’ families.
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A source close to the Kelce family told PEOPLE that “Donna likes Taylor and thinks she’s very sweet and down to earth.” Kelce’s mother, who was included on PEOPLE’s 25 Most Intriguing People of the Year list, later told the Wall Street Journal that her son has been “happier than I’ve seen him in a long time.”
Taylor Swift enters Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. AP PHOTO/ED ZURGA
With Swift often cheering him on, Kelce finished the regular season with 93 receptions for a team-leading 984 yards and five touchdowns. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes also appeared to trust Kelce the most, throwing to the tight end 121 times — more than any other receiver on the team.
Kelce had at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his last seven seasons and Mahomes, 28, said he planned to throw the ball to Kelce enough times in the Chiefs’ season finale to get him an eighth-straight season with 1,000 yards or more receiving.
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But Kelce sat out last weekend’s game, later telling his brother Jason Kelce on the latest episode of their New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce podcast that he didn’t want to play the game just to hit a record of 1,000 receiving yards.
“It didn’t feel right in my gut and it didn’t feel like I should be playing the game that way [by the numbers],” he said. “If I can get some rest going into next week, stay off the turf out there in L.A. and just avoid some hits… I was all for that, to gear up for the playoffs.”
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid had said Kelce didn’t want to “come across as selfish” and called him a “humble, humble guy.”