Travis Kelce Earns Amusing Nickelodeon Label During Ugly Super Bowl Half

Taylor Swift's presence at Super Bowl LVIII can even be felt in Bikini Bottom.

Nickelodeon's first-ever broadcast of the big game offered an assuming description of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in the first half, referring to the nine-time Pro Bowler as "Taylor Swift's boyfriend" rather than, well, his name. And for anyone watching who wasn't familiar with Kelce's play, the alternative, family friendly telecast cleared up that he is "good at football." Spot on, Nickelodeon. Spot on.

Former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel shared a screengrab of the moment—along with a laugh—on X, formerly Twitter, as did @kclairerogres, who noted "They put the Swifties in charge of the Nickelodeon broadcast."

There was plenty more mischief where that came from.

When it comes to ball security in the Super Bowl, it's best to listen to a command Patrick Star once gave Squidward Tentacles while attempting to jellyfish—firmly grasp it. In this case, "it" is the pigskin. And when San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey fumbled on the opening possession of the night, Patrick, and a certain sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea, let the NFL's rushing leader hear about it.

"You have to firmly grasp it," said the animated starfish, calling the game with Noah Eagle, Nate Burleson and SpongeBob SquarePants—with a broadcast booth right next to Swift's suite.

"Firmly grasp it," SpongeBob astutely followed up with.

The same lesson would be learned in the second quarter when Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco lost the ball in the Red Zone after a 52-yard connection between Patrick Mahomes and Mecole Hardman. The 49ers enter halftime with a 10-3 lead over the Chiefs. Kelce finished with just one catch for one yard over the first 30 minutes of play, plus an explosive sideline interaction with head coach Andy Reid.

Safe to say, Nickelodeon had more first-half fun than Kelce and the Chiefs.

Once McCaffrey became the first player to reach the end zone on the night, the broadcast celebrated with a sliming. Oh, and did anyone catch LePrawn James and Fin Diesel?

In other first-half highlights, Burleson "took a ride" on the iconic Nickelodeon blimp, Larry the Lobster became the buffest aquatic on-field sideline reporter in NFL history, Dora the Explorer joined in as the most entertaining rules analyst in the league, Plankton pulled up, the University of Iowa's "punting is winning" attitude got a shout-out in a low-scoring first half and the list goes on.

Oh, and SpongeBob—fresh off a "Sweet Victory" performance—said hello to another musical star (Swift) on the broadcast.

"Hi," SpongeBob said. "Hi, pretty lady."

NFL fans seem to be having as much fun with the Nickelodeon broadcast as this animated cast of characters.

"Bro the Nickelodeon broadcast is elite," X, formerly Twitter, user @Im2Hyper_ said. Meanwhile, @hmfaigen posted, in part, "The Nickelodeon broadcast is potentially the greatest sports broadcast ever made," after a Spongebob-Dora joke, while @ChrisBurkeNFL said, "Dora the Explorer popping up on the Nickelodeon broadcast and saying 'OK, who needs a map to find the end zone?' is the current highlight of the game. @RiseFallNickBck claimed that the Nickelodeon broadcast is "already legendary," and @samwitchx said, "The Nickelodeon football broadcast just gets me" in reference to the Kelce-Swift joke.