After deciding not to retire after the 2025 NFL season, Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce is off to a stellar start in 2026 — and his coach credits the tight end’s new wife, Taylor Swift.
“I think Taylor, [she’s] putting on 4 hour shows, you’ve gotta work hard too,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said in a virtual press conference on Monday, September 21. “I’m sure she kicks him in the butt a little bit there.”
Two games into the 2026 season, the Chiefs are 2-0 and Kelce, 36, has 172 total receiving yards, plus a touchdown. For context, he averaged just over 50 receiving yards per game last season. Part of that could be attributed to Kelce having his quarterback and close friend, Patrick Mahomes, back from injury — he missed the last three games of 2025, and Kelce failed to amass more than 36 yards in any of them.
But Reid, 68, is crediting Kelce’s work ethic.
“Trav worked his tail off,” Reid said. “That’s the bottom line. He probably said it after the game somewhere…he likes this surrounding cast that’s around him too, which sure helps as just an extra challenge there to make sure that you’re up there and competing and doing your part with that other group. He takes a lot of pride in that.”
Swift, for her part, has been at Arrowhead Stadium for each of the Chiefs first two games this season, cheering on her husband, just over two months after they were married in a star-studded Madison Square Garden ceremony officiated by Adam Sandler.
Reid, along with many of his players and fellow coaches, was at the wedding. As the former Philadelphia Eagles head coach, he has known Swift, 36, a Pennsylvania native, for even longer than Kelce.
“She’s a Pennsylvania girl, so I got to know her before Trav did,” Reid joked during a June appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show. “I’m happy for them that they’re in love. That, to me, is the most important thing. Both of them are famous people and great people, and more power to ‘em.”
He has long been supportive of the couple, telling reporters shortly after their engagement that he’s “happy” for them.
“It’s hard to find somebody that you fall in love with,” he said. “That’s not an easy thing, to really fall in love. And it seems like they’re there. I think it’s a great deal for both of them.”
Reid added, “They like being around each other. That’s a plus, I think. They’re both busy people in their own right. Both are very famous in their own right. It’s kinda neat that they come together and handle themselves the way they do.”
