Patrick Mahomes has “met a lot of famous people” in his career, but he says none are quite as grounded (and committed to learning football) as his pal Taylor Swift.
“Taylor’s probably the most down-to-earth person that’s been on that stage for that long,” Mahomes, 28, gushed in his TIME 100 Most Influential People profile published on Tuesday, April 16.
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback went on to note that Swift, 34, is “never not working,” explaining, “Even when she’s taking her downtime, she’s working on something. Shooting a music video or singing a song or writing a song. You can see it by how she talks.”
The pop star also gives football just as much thought as musical projects. “Even when she’s talking about football, when she’s learning it, you can see her business mind putting it together,” Mahomes explained. “It’s almost like she’s trying to become a coach. ‘Why can’t you try this, this, and this?’ She’s asking the right questions.”
Patrick and his wife, Brittany Mahomes, started spending more time with Swift after she began dating Patrick’s teammate Travis Kelce during summer 2023.
Patrick told TIME that Swift and Kelce’s relationship helped transform the Chiefs from “a nationwide team that was kind of global to a full global worldwide team,” adding, “That came from Taylor’s fanbase.”
And while some football fans criticized the NFL’s heavy coverage of Swift’s attendance at Chiefs games, Patrick said that he and his fellow players “embraced” the team’s newfound attention.
“We like having that visibility,” he shared. “At the end of the day, football has always been this bruising sport. We want to make it fun, where kids grow up and play football and show their personality and be who they are. This year really magnified that.”
Swift grew particularly close to Patrick’s wife as she was often seen supporting Kelce, 34, alongside Brittany, 28, at NFL games. She also integrated Brittany into her inner circle of celebrity friends, in addition to forming new connections with her fellow Chiefs wives and girlfriends.
One month after Swift and Kelce rang in 2024 with the Mahomes at the Chiefs’ New Year’s party, the two couples celebrated the team’s Super Bowl LVIII victory at a star-studded Las Vegas afterparty in February.
Patrick and Brittany followed up the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win by taking a family trip to Disneyland with their kids, Sterling, 3, and Bronze, 16 months. In an ESPN interview filmed in front of the Sleeping Beauty castle, Patrick revealed that he pulls from Swift’s discography for his go-to shower music.
“What’s the last song you sang in the shower?” Patrick was asked, to which he replied, “’Love Story’ by Taylor Swift.”
