Football jersey signed by Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift donated to Guelph children’s charity to be auctioned

‘I would anticipate that it goes for a good buck,’ charity’s executive director says

In her wildest dreams, Helen Loftin never expected a Travis Kelce Kansas City Chiefs jersey signed by the football player and his girlfriend, superstar musician Taylor Swift, to land in an auction for her charity.

Loftin is executive director of the Guelph Wish Fund for Children, which fulfills wishes for children who are facing medical challenges. The charity was founded in the southern Ontario city in 1984 and has granted more than 450 wishes during its time in operation, with the charity spending approximately $10,000 on each wish.

This weekend, Guelph automotive manufacturer Linamar is holding a curling bonspiel in the city and with it, a silent auction. The event raises thousands of dollars for the charity each year.

The Kelce jersey signed by the couple, whose love story has made headlines in recent weeks, was donated for the silent auction and Loftin said she immediately knew all too well it was going to be popular.

“I was like, ‘Oh my goodness!’ Like, just the timing, right? Given the recent Super Bowl win and the Grammys and plus the whole Taylor Swift tour and just right now the Taylor Swift vortex, if you will, is just so powerful,” Loftin said.

She posted about the jersey on the social media website X, formerly Twitter, where within a few hours had reached more than half a million people. Some questioned whether the signatures and jersey were real, but Loftin says it comes with authenticity certificates.

“I do suspect that it will be the highest bid upon value,” she said. “I would anticipate that it goes for a good buck.”

Seeing the potential in the jersey and knowing for some fans it would be bigger than the whole sky to win it, the decision was made to take it out of the silent auction and instead, auction the jersey online to reach more people.

It’s a love story for Kelce and Swift and fans may want to say “you belong with me” to this jersey signed by the couple. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)
Bidding is set to start at $3,000 and whoever wins it must be able to pick it up in person in Guelph. The jersey is framed and includes a photo of Kelce and Swift together after the Kansas City team won the American Football Conference (AFC) championship on Jan. 28.

The auction will end on Saturday at 4 p.m.

A jersey from Kansas City’s quarterback Patrick Mahomes is also part of the online auction with a starting bid of $1,800.

Dan Pollard is vice president of Cloutsnchara in Kitchener, a sports memorabilia store which largely deals with hockey cards. He said it will be exciting to see what the jersey goes for once.

“This day and age, you never actually know,” he said.

“That’s pretty exciting, actually. Especially since they just won the Super Bowl. If we had someone bring that into our shop, that’d be pretty amazing.”