Travis Kelce Will Have No Problem with the Gaylors

As a football fan, it’s not uncommon to see big NFL stars date celebrities. When I was growing up in Pittsburgh, the Steelers’ quarterback Terry Bradshaw dated figure skater JoJo Starbuck. That was such a big deal at the time. For a brief period, they were the "it couple."

Now, that pairing seems so simple.

A few years ago quarterback Russell Wilson, when he was with the Seattle Seahawks, married global singing superstar Ciara. Before their nuptials, it was Tom Brady, who of course married supermodel Gisele Bündchen. Sadly, the two divorced last year. Then, Brady made big headlines in late summer with rumors he was dating another model, Irina Shayk.

That pairing seems so simple now.

This weekend, the Miami Dolphins scored 70 points in their win against the Denver Broncos, whose quarterback is Wilson. Presumably, Wilson was consoled by his famous wife after that embarrassing defeat. The Dolphins had a total offense of 726 yards, just nine yards short of the NFL's all-time record set by the Los Angeles Rams way back in 1951.

During any other weekend, the Dolphins's history-making win would dominate sports news, and spill into general news as well, because wins and yardage like that are unheard of, even in a league where high passing and high-scoring games are the norm.

Also on Sunday night, the plane carrying my beloved Steelers was forced to land in Kansas City, Mo., on their way back from Las Vegas after defeating the Raiders. That, too, would be huge sports news and general news, but alas, the emergency landing in Kansas City wasn't the biggest thing to even happen in that city on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Taylor Swift appeared in a private box at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, to watch the Chiefs manhandle the Chicago Bears 41-10. Presumably, Swift wasn’t there as a Chiefs fan or to watch the action. She was there to watch her new beau, the Chiefs's tight-end, Travis Kelce — who scored a touchdown probably just to show off. Images of Swift cheering and screaming for Kelce in that private box with his family almost crashed social media.

Is Swift dating Kelce? Well, who knows, and you might say, who cares? But, a lot of the world cares, to put it bluntly. Starbuck, Ciara, and Gisele pale in comparison to the enormity of Swift. If Swift decided to date a tree, that tree would become a top tourist destination.

It’s called the Swift effect; similar it seems to the Oprah effect. Everything Swift touches turns to gold. Swift walked hand-in-hand with Kelce out of Arrowhead Stadium Sunday after the game, and since then, sales of Kelce’s #87 Chiefs’ jersey have soared over 400 percent, according to TMZ.

This relationship between Swift and Kelce – whatever or however long it is – has also caused the interwebs to almost crash. Young women and young gay men around the world are Googling “Travis Kelce” to find out all they can about Swift’s new hunk of a football player boyfriend – or acquaintance?

Similarly, many of the gay “Swifties” I know were reaching out to me on Sunday about Kelce. They know I’m a football fan, so they had many questions for me; Is Kelce any good Where is he from? Who are the Chiefs? Is he a homophobe?

Kelce is good, in fact, he’s one of the best tight ends in the NFL. Kelce has an older brother, Jason who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles. Their mother Donna has become somewhat of a celebrity herself. During the Super Bowl last year, where Travis’s team the Chiefs beat Jason's team, the Eagles, Donna was all over the place. The ultimate football mother. Happy for one son. Sad for the other. And now? After her picture alongside Swift ran wild over social media and the news on Sunday, Mrs. Kelce is the third biggest and current global superstar, behind Taylor and Travis.

As a side note, and for those who are obsessed with garnering as much knowledge about Kelce as they can get, this year’s Super Bowl win was his second win; the first being in 2020 when Kelce and the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers.

The Kelce brothers are creating a cottage industry for themselves. They have their own podcast, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, and they have a documentary, Kelce, on Prime Video that is more about Jason, with Travis making frequent appearances. It’s actually pretty good, even if you’re not a football fan. Not to be outdone by his brother, Travis had a reality show on E! called Catching Kelce, that featured 50 women from 50 states in a dating competition. I guess Taylor decided to wait until the dust cleared with that many women pining for Kelce?

There’s no doubt in the world that every Swifty is downloading all the episodes of that The Bachelor riff, so that they can find out how to catch Kelce too, or about how Swift caught Kelce.

Finally, Travis Kelce is anything but a homophobe. Kelce told Outsports at the 2017 Pro Bowl (this is the game that features the NFL’s best players) that he’d support a gay teammate. “Anybody in this world [can play]. I’m comfortable with who I am and I expect everyone to be comfortable with who they are. I respect people for their views and opinions.”

And here’s a story about why you can love Kelce even if you’re not a Swifty or even a Gaylor — which is a subgroup of Swift fans who believe Taylor Swift is actually queer. In July, Bud Light released a commercial starring Kelce. In any other year, that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, but we all know what happened with Bud Light in April with the Dylan Mulvaney imbroglio, and Bud Light’s inexcusable reaction to the extreme right boycotting the beer.

In the face of that boycott, by angry cisgender straight white men who were shooting cans of Bud Light or pouring them down the drain, Kelce metaphorically flipped them the bird by swigging the beer. And for his bravery and f-you attitude towards the narrow-minded, they retaliated by calling for a boycott of Kelce and by calling him "woke." (How do you boycott a human being, let alone one that is 6’5” and weighs 250 pounds?) Kelce could have cared less about what they thought of him endorsing Bud Light. In fact, he was seen drinking the beer at a golf tournament soon after the ad was released.

This week, Kelce released a video announcing his partnership with Pfizer as part of an educational campaign to remind people to get their flu and COVID-19 vaccine shots, preferably at the same time. In his Instagram video, Kelce says, “With my schedule, saving time is key. The CDC says you can get this season’s updated COVID-19 shot when you get your flu shot if you’re due for both. That’s why I got two shots in one stop! Ask your doctor or pharmacist if it would be right for you. You can also visit CDC’s vaccines.gov to learn more and schedule an appointment.”

As you can imagine, the anti-vaxxers and the extreme right are horrified that Kelce is endorsing the same "phooey" and hawking the same “poisons” that their number one vaxxing nemesis Dr. Fauci championed. For his efforts, Kelce is a champion too.

Finally, Kelce hosted Saturday Night Live earlier this year after winning the Super Bowl, and appeared in a memorable sketch with Bowen Yang as his “Straight Male Friend,” as Yang's character seeks some balance after being the one gay guy in a group of straight women.

While the world tries to dissect Kelce in every imaginable way possible, as they scoop up his jersey in record numbers, we can take some solace in the fact that Kelce will have no problem with queer Swifties or even the Gaylors.

One of my gay Swifty friends asked me what the story is with Travis's hunky brother Jason. I was sorry to tell him that he is happily married to his wife Kylie, and that they have three young daughters who will be the envy of young girls worldwide some day soon, when they get a new Aunt Taylor.

John Casey is senior editor of The Advocate.

Views expressed in The Advocate’s opinion articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.