Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM Radio, defended 14-time Grammy award-winner Taylor Swift after the pop star was loudly booed when she was shown on the videoboards at the Caesars Superdome during Super Bowl LIX.
Stern asked Barkley if he thought Swift, who is dating Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce, would be getting engaged to the Chiefs pass-catcher. The Eagles halfback didn't have any strong thoughts on that topic, but he certainly did have a few on Swift getting booed, as he told Stern he "couldn't understand" why she received such a negative reception from what appeared to be Eagles fans.
"I remember that they showed her on the jumbotron, and she got booed. I don't get it. I don't get why she was getting hate there," Barkley said. "She was there supporting her significant other, and she's made the game bigger."
"In football we're all about, 'How can we expand the game and make it more [international]?' We're traveling to Brazil, we're traveling to Mexico. Apparently, we're traveling to Australia soon. We're trying to expand the game, and her being a part of it is only helping it."
"I don't get the dislike she's getting."
Swift, who was seated next to rapper Ice Spice, could be seen mouthing the words, "What's going on?" as the boos rained down on her. The pop star, born and raised in West Reading, Pa., seemed to take the negative reception, the majority of which likely came from Eagles fans in attendance, in stride.
Still, the forcefulness of the boos had to be surprising, if not at least a bit hurtful, to Swift. But she has at least one Eagles player in her corner.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Saquon Barkley Sent Stern Message to Eagles Fans Who Booed Taylor Swift at Super Bowl.
