The world’s top pop star, the woman you see on every magazine cover, and girlfriend of Kansas City Chiefs tight end – Taylor Swift, despite her popularity, has created outrage among NFL and Swift fans all around the country.
Swift has attended Kansas City Chiefs games regularly, along with her fans, and it seems that, despite the Superbowl being the largest game of the NFL season, all eyes will be on Taylor Swift. LendingTree’s statistics suggest three-quarters of Americans plan to watch the Superbowl this year, and that, “31% of Gen Zers said they’d root for the Chiefs in the NFL’s title game because of Swift.”
Despite Swift’s Eras Tour having her in Tokyo the night before the Superbowl in Las Vegas, fans still expected her at the big game. According to a HuffPost article, “If Swift’s flight to Las Vegas takes 11 or 12 hours, she could arrive in Las Vegas the day before the game, after crossing nine time zones and the international date line”.
However, it seems that not everyone is excited about Swift’s involvement in ‘the big game’. Freshman Nathan Swatz stated, “The reason I hate Taylor Swift being in the NFL is because it takes away from the actual game. All of the media talks about it all the time, you can’t deal with any stats or anything, anytime Kansas Chiefs are mentioned, somebody always has to talk about Taylor Swift, and it drives me nuts. The camera pans to Taylor Swift every four minutes of the game, or at every point that the Kansas Chiefs score, and with their offense, that’s a lot of times,” Swartz also mentioned, “There’s nothing wrong with Taylor Swift, but I hate her being in the NFL. It’s awful.”
Contrary to Swartz, senior Grace Jones has an alternate opinion.“I love seeing her support her boyfriend, Travis Kelce. I think that’s kind of fun. I know a lot of people don’t like it, they think it takes attention away from the game. I think it’s whatever, I think she should be allowed,” said Jones.
This topic unveils an interesting question: Why are people mad at Swift when so many artists in the past have attracted their fans to the game? Commenting on that, FHS history teacher James Pittman stated, “I think Taylor is… at the epitome of her fame, whereas other people weren’t as big, as universal… I think the love story interest of her and Travis Kelce is probably the biggest driving force, and that coupled with her current… fame right now, is a perfect story for newspapers.” Junior Audrey Rehaluk added, “She has a lot of controversy around her, [many] people don’t like her, so a lot of people are getting upset that… they see her [In sports] in general.” The love story between Swift and Kelce spread through the news like wildfire, and the hate for it led to more news about her being published, further frustrating fans who would rather not see Swift in the spotlight.
In short, the Swift and NFL combination has made its path to the opinions of others, the internet and news channels across the nation. After a Kansas City win, with fans of the team and most fans of Swift feeling elated, the news may continue to prop up this “perfect love story” for at least a little longer.
