Travis Kelce’s brother Jason Kelce has said he’s worried for his brother’s safety amid the intense public interest in his romance with Taylor Swift.
While the Philadelphia Eagles centre is happy for his brother, he noted that there was some cause for concern, mainly due to the intensity of attention and public scrutiny the new couple is receiving. In an interview with NBC Sports’ Peter King on 22 October, Jason remarked: “It’s certainly been weird, the level that it is now.”
The NFL player noted that although he’s “happy” that his brother is in a relationship he feels “genuine about,” he finds the attention the couple has received to be alarming. He explained: “There’s another end of it where it’s like: ‘Man, this is a lot.’ There’s paparazzi talking about him fuelling his car before the game today and I’m like: ‘Is that really necessary information to share?’”
“This is another level of stardom that typically football players don’t deal with,” he added, noting that the paparazzi was following Kelce’s day-to-day activities. “And so on one hand, really, really happy for my brother and where he’s at in his current situation with Taylor. But on the other hand, there’s some, I think, alarms sometimes with how, you know, over in pursuit people can be.”
“Overall, he can deal with some of this,” the NFL player concluded. “As long as it’s not, you know, becoming a threat to his safety and things like that.”
On 27 September, Kelce addressed the onslaught of media scrutiny during an episode of the podcast he shares with Jason, New Heights. The NFL tight end said that he intended to keep relationship details to himself out of respect for the pop star’s privacy.
“I want to respect both of our lives,” he said, explicitly stating his boundaries when it comes to his personal life. “She’s not in the media as much as I am doing this show every single week and you know, having fun during the NFL season and on other guys’ shows like the McAfee Show, and any other show that I go on from here on out.”
He added: “I’m enjoying life, and I sure as hell enjoyed this weekend so everything moving forward, I think me talking about sports… will kind of have to be where I keep it.”
“I’m on the roller coaster, the roller coaster of life,” Kelce said. “Yeah, I notice a few things [are different], like paparazzi outside my house.”
Since September, the Grammy winner has reportedly attended four Kansas City Chiefs games. The NFL has even capitalised on Swift’s recent apperances, sharing footage of the pop star’s reactions to tackles and passes, and her interactions with Kelce’s mother, Donna. When the Chiefs faced off against the Denver Broncos on 12 October, Swift was seen celebrating Travis’s touchdown passes with his mother and father, Ed.
Ed had nothing but kind words to say about the “Cruel Summer” singer, according to People. He told the outlet that she was “a very, very sweet, very charming, down-to-earth young woman” and went on to praise her intellect. “She’s very smart. I mean, very. That comes through right away,” he said.
He added that she was very thoughtful and would pick up “empty bottles, cans, plates that are scattered around” the suite when the game was over. The NFL dad added: “And I’m just thinking, I don’t think she got the diva memo. She didn’t get the spoiled musician. She doesn’t know how to pull that off. And that really, to me, said a whole lot.”
