KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Take a surreal merger of disparate worlds, a fusion of compelling forces at the zenith of their games and fame, and you get the sensory overload that was Week One of the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce saga.
Transport the spectacle to the media capital of the world, or mere miles from it in New Jersey, and you step into a portal to another dimension.
Already an international sensation in about any language you can conjure, the budding relationship between the pop icon and the Chiefs’ superstar tight end engaged the full hysteria treatment: paparazzi on the stakeout at the Chiefs’ hotel and Swift’s New York City townhouse, local media outlets chasing down their whereabouts all weekend, gossip from exclusive unnamed sources.
(No, as a matter of fact, Kelce didn’t violate curfew and didn’t spend the night at her place.)
Yes, we were there to write about the Chiefs, but processing this dynamic has become entwined with that now. And figuring an essential part of this job is to take you where you don’t get to go and, perhaps loftily, write the rough drafts of history, this has morphed into something more than just incidental background.
The out-of-body experience was amplified on Sunday with NBC contouring its Chiefs-Jets broadcast production to the legion of so-called Swifties tuning in at MetLife Stadium, where Swift arrived with friends including Hugh Jackman, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
Considering Kansas City’s own Paul Rudd was there, too, that meant the beautiful people in the audience included at least three former People magazine “Sexiest Man Alive” selections.
That’s a stray realization that I can’t believe I just typed. But as I find myself drawn into sorting out what this means and where it’s all going, that got me thinking … this: Perhaps a future candidate is a certain hip-swiveling Saturday Night Live host with an infinitely popular podcast — the only place he’s spoken publicly in recent weeks.
Certainly, the Swift-infused clamor has made him the current center of attention for the Chiefs. One minor but telling example: When he was warming up before the game near Patrick Mahomes, cameras on the field were zooming in not on the two-time NFL and two-time Super Bowl MVP but on Kelce.
Honestly, I didn’t want or mean to start getting consumed with this. In one sense, it’s a mere sideshow from what we’re following.
Also, about all I’ve known about Swift to this point is she’s a cultural icon as a 12-time Grammy award winner who performs amazing marathon shows. But I sure appreciate how she resonates with so many and the curiosity and energy this cross-cultural relationship sparks.
Turn on a computer, or turn on the TV, and chances are it’s coming your way in 3-2-1 some way or another. It certainly was in New York.
Not just in obvious hot spots such as the back cover of the New York Post, which summed up the Chiefs’ 23-20 victory as a “Cruel Bummer” and added, “Heartbreak for valiant Jets as Taylor looks on.”
Heck, in the cab on the way to LaGuardia Airport on Monday morning, a CNBC video about Swift and Kelce and his through-the-stratosphere jersey sales suddenly popped on.
A woman next to me on the NYC subway the other day was scrolling and scrolling through her phone for something, anything, about them.
