Taylor Swift has made a lasting impression on Travis Kelce’s dad.
Ed Kelce opened up to the Los Angeles Times about Swift on Feb. 10 ahead of Super Bowl 58, which will see the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the San Francisco 49ers.
During his interview with the outlet, he discussed Swift’s consistent presence at Chiefs games during the season since she began dating his youngest son last year.
Ed Kelce acknowledged the frenzy that occurs when Swift is spotted at the games, explaining, “Every game there’s people crowding outside the front of that suite trying to get a glimpse of Taylor, wanting to meet Taylor.”
“Taylor’s very gracious, but she can’t do everything,” he added. “And she’s got security guys who don’t want her doing anything. That’s their job and she’s smart enough to know, ‘I’m paying these guys to keep me safe. I should probably listen to them.’”
Despite this, Ed Kelce noted, “But if it was up to her she’d be out there with everyone who wants her.”
As a result of her relationship with Travis Kelce, Swift has been able to meet more members of his family, including his older brother, Jason Kelce, and his wife, Kylie Kelce.
She’s also gotten to spend time with the matriarch of the Kelce family, Donna Kelce, and even Ed Kelce’s girlfriend, Maureen Maguire.
Swift and Maguire already established a rapport with one another, stemming from a funny interaction where she warned the singer that Ed Kelce was her boyfriend when Swift posed for a picture with him.
From the get go, Ed Kelce expressed that he was aware that Swift was a grounded individual and smart businesswomen, citing the commencement speech she gave at New York University in May 2022, where she also received an honorary doctorate of fine arts.
“Listening to that, you get a much better sense of who this young woman is, as opposed to the social media blurbs and the gossip magazines,” he said. “That’s all celebrity stuff. This is more the real Taylor.”
Ed Kelce has previously discussed the “Karma” singer in interviews, including last month’s recollection of the time he couldn’t quite remember her name.
He jokingly said he felt “like a real idiot” when not being able to recall Swift’s name during their interaction at his NFL star son Travis Kelce’s home. During a conversation on Audacy‘s “92.3 The Fan in Cleveland,” Ed Kelce spoke about how before a Kansas City Chiefs game in Kansas City, Missouri, many of the tight end’s friends gather at his home.
“When Travis has a lot of friends coming into town to go to the game, everyone meets at his house, although he’s not there,” Ed Kelce said, adding that at that time his son’s already at the game preparing. “They have a shuttle that comes and picks everybody up and takes them to the game.”
Ed Kelce added that “at any given home game, you can end up with 20 people in there.” For a dad like him, he said that from his perspective, he’s probably met some of them “but cannot for the life of me picture, remember who they are.”
And then comes in Swift, he recalled.
“And Taylor comes in, walks in with a security guard and I look at her… and I had my girlfriend with me and I mention to Maureen, ‘Oh, my god, I know this kid but I don’t know what her name is.’ Geez, you know, like a real idiot,” Ed Kelce said.
His girlfriend then told him, “‘You don’t know her? This is Taylor Swift, you idiot.’”
Ed Kelce didn’t specify before which game this incident happened. However, he and Swift have been photographed multiple times together while in a suite at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, including an Oct. 12 and Dec. 25, 2023 game.
The hosts, Andy Baskin and Jeff Phelps, poked fun at Ed Kelce saying, “That would make you a father.”
Meanwhile, someone who seemingly appears to be up-to-date on Swift is Travis Kelce’s mom, Donna Kelce. Since Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship was confirmed and made public, the two ladies have been seen sitting together at multiple games.
During an October appearance on TODAY, Donna Kelce briefly touched on her son’s personal life.
“It’s fairly new, so I don’t like to talk about it,” she said. “It’s just one of those things where you know, obviously everybody saw me. I was in the boxes with her and it’s just another thing that’s amped up my life.”
Donna Kelce, who is also mother to NFL Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, recently told TODAY.com about how sports and Swift fans have embraced her.
“Everybody that’s come up to me has been very gracious, very supportive, and they tell me that they love my boys,” she says. “What mom doesn’t want to hear that?”
When she’s in attendance, especially if she’s sitting near Swift, all eyes and cameras appear to be on them — something she finds quite comical.
“It’s kind of funny that they’re following an old lady,” she joked. “But it’s obviously because of my boys and who they know, so I totally understand the glamour about it, but I’m just a regular mom like everybody else.”
