Travis Kelce’s dad, Ed Kelce, may be one of the only people in the world who didn’t recognize Taylor Swift when they first met.
“I met Taylor at Travis’ house. When Travis has a lot of friends coming into town to the game, everyone meets at his house, although he’s not there because he’s sequestered with the team,” Ed said during a Friday, January 26, appearance on Audacy’s 92.3 The Fan radio show in Cleveland. “Everyone meets at the house and they have a shuttle that comes [to] pick everyone up and take them to the game. At any given home game, you could end up with 20 people there.”
During one home game earlier this season, Ed was waiting for the shuttle when Swift, 34, walked in.
“Taylor walks in with a security guy, and I look at her, and I say [to my girlfriend], ‘Oh my God, I know this kid, but I don’t know what her name is. Jeez, you know, like a real idiot,’” Ed quipped. “And [my girlfriend] says, ‘You don’t know her? This is Taylor Swift, you idiot.’”
Swift has been dating Travis, 34, since summer 2023 after he gushed about seeing her Eras Tour concert during an episode of his podcast that July. Travis, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, lamented that he felt “butthurt” they couldn’t meet backstage when the show ended. They started privately dating before taking things to the next level in September 2023 when she went to her first football game.
“I don’t know if it’s crazy,” Ed said on Friday when asked about the frenzy surrounding his son’s love life. “Yes, he’s dating Taylor, and yeah, there’s eyes on you every place you go. It’s funny because last year, [my ex-wife] Donna [Kelce] and I were shown on TV screens, and we had some articles that were done. So, our name was out there.”
Travis and his older brother, Jason Kelce, became the first siblings to play each other in the Super Bowl during the February 2023 game. (Travis and the Chiefs ultimately won the championship.)
“We were so popular, the [NFL] commissioner offered to let us sit in the box for the Super Bowl,” Ed quipped. “More people recognize us since he started dating Taylor, though. I’ll be [in] the grocery store, somebody will smile and say, ‘Hey!’ Come over and say ‘Hi Ed,’ and I have no idea who they are. That has certainly picked up and become more frequent by a long shot than the before Taylor days.”
Swift has also met Travis’ mom, Donna, his brother, Jason, and his sister-in-law, Kylie Kelce. The group all attended the Chiefs’ divisional playoffs on January 21.
“It really means everything to [Travis] how seamlessly Taylor blends in with all of them,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month. “His family is all about just hanging out, joking, and having a great time. It’s almost like she’s known his family forever, and he loves that about her.”
