Travis Kelce Opens Up About the 'Crazy Ride' of His Relationship With Taylor Swift

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - JANUARY 28: Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs (L) celebrates with Taylor Swift after defeating the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game at M&T Bank Stadium on January 28, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Travis Kelce is offering a rare comment on his relationship with Taylor Swift.

During a recent interview with Pat McAfee on The Pat McAfee Show, the NFL star opened up about the spotlight that now follows his every move, ever since Swift set foot at her first game earlier this season.

"It's exciting for me, but it was all brand new," he said of the limelight. "I couldn't tell you—from having the paparazzi follow me every single day into work to everybody having my name on their talk show every single day, whether it's sports, whether it's not sports, you know—it's been a crazy, crazy ride I could have never anticipated."

But he, along with "the majority of the world," is "having fun with it"—"cranky NFL fans that just don't want to see the Chiefs win" aside. But he said that "we're slowly reeling [even the haters] in."

Kelce also confirmed that when he issued a public invite for the superstar to attend one of his games, he already knew she was going to be in attendance, with the two knowing each other "pretty well" for "close to a month at that point."

Swift first offered a little insight into the beginnings of their whirlwind relationship in her Person of the Year interview with TIME magazine, calling it "metal as hell" when the tight end "very adorably put [her] on blast on his podcast" back in July, a couple of weeks after he tried and failed to get her attention at her Kansas City concert.

Based on Kelce's timeline, it seems that they spent part of Aug. and most of Sept. getting to know one another before taking things public.

Some took the first game she attended on Sept. 24. to be their first date, seeing as they didn't really hard-launch the relationship until Swift changed the lyrics to "Karma" to say "Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me" before leaping into his arms in front of the crowd at one of the final Eras Tour shows of the year, but Swift asserted, "We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.”

Next: Travis Kelce Explains How He Actually Feels About Taylor Swift Attending His Games