Patrick Mahomes Says Taylor Swift 'Pressure' Changed Travis Kelce Game Plan

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes wanted to help his teammate Travis Kelce score a touchdown on Sunday as the latter's potential new love interest, Taylor Swift, watched the game.

The singer cheered on the Chiefs tight end alongside his mom, Donna, at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City as his team beat the Chicago Bears 41-10. Mahomes said he knew Swift was "in the house" and "felt a little bit of pressure" from the Swifties— her fan base—to help Kelce score a touchdown.

"I knew I had to get the ball to Travis," Mahomes said in a post-match interview with Fox Sports.

"I think he wanted to get it into the end zone as much as all the Swifties wanted him to," the quarterback added.

Rumors have swirled for weeks about a potential romance between the 12-time Grammy winner and NFL star. Kelce last week said that he had invited Swift to watch him play in Kansas.

"I threw it out there. I threw the ball in her court. And, you know, I told her, you know, maybe, 'I've seen you rock the stage at Arrowhead. You might have to come see me rock the stage at Arrowhead. And see which one is a little more lit.' So, we'll see what happens in the near future," Kelce said on Thursday during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.

The tight end addressed the speculation about his relationship status: "I think it's, right now, it's like an old game in school called telephone, where everyone's just whispering in each other's ear, just hearing some random stuff. And then you got, especially, nobody know what's going on, especially when you've got Jason Kelce on live television telling people, just, both sides. He doesn't know it's true; it's this and that."

Kelce was referring to his elder brother, Jason, who plays center for the Philadelphia Eagles and was pressed on the relationship between Travis and Swift during an September 14 appearance on Fox's Thursday Night Football.

"I have seen these rumors. I cannot comment," Jason Kelce said, adding that he felt like he was on "Gossip TV."

"I don't really know what's going on there," he said. "So, yeah, I know Trav is having fun, and we'll see what happens with whoever he ends up with."

The football player had attended Swift's recordbreaking Eras Tour in July, saying he had wanted to follow her concert tradition by giving her a friendship bracelet at the show. Kelce's bespoke item also included his phone number, but he didn't get the chance to give it to her.

Swift made headlines earlier in the week when she attended a high-profile dinner with Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner, who is going through a divorce from singer Joe Jonas.

The couple announced their split earlier this month, but the dinner raised eyebrows as Swift briefly dated Jonas in 2008. The former later said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at the time: "I'm not even gonna be able to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 25 seconds when I was 18."

UPDATE: 9/25/2023, 8:18 A.M. ET. This story was updated to include comments by Jason Kelce.