Taylor Swift’s relationship with Travis Kelce prompted a seismic shift throughout the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs group.
ESPN’s six-part docuseries The Kingdom, which premiered its first two episodes on Thursday, August 14, detailed the early days of the pop star’s romance with the Chiefs tight finish.
Swift, 35, made her first look at Kansas Metropolis’s Arrowhead Stadium in September 2023 when the Chiefs hosted the Chicago Bears.
Not solely was her attendance an indication that she and Kelce, 35, had been the actual deal, it additionally raised loads of logistical issues for the Chiefs group.
For the largest revelations from The Kingdom about how Swift and Kelce’s union rocked the franchise — from the entrance workplace to quarterback Patrick Mahomes — maintain studying.
How the Chiefs Group Discovered Out About Taylor Swift’s 1st Look
The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs had solely days discover that Swift can be hitting Arrowhead for the staff’s sport towards the Bears on September 24, 2023.
“I keep in mind [Chiefs president] Mark Donovan, on a Friday afternoon, known as me and advised me that Taylor Swift was going to be coming to the sport,” Chiefs advertising and marketing officer Lara Krug mentioned in episode 3 of The Kingdom, which premieres Tuesday, August 19. “I keep in mind getting off the cellphone and searching the window being like, ‘Huh, that’s a giant deal.’”
Donovan, 59, remembered the shock of the Swift announcement in related trend.
“Lara Krug walked into my workplace and closed the door,” Donovan mentioned within the sequence. “She was like, ‘OK, can I ask you a query?’ I’m like, ‘Completely.’”
Donovan recalled Krug asking him, “This isn’t, like, regular, is it?”
“‘No, Laura, this isn’t regular,” Donovan remembered telling her with amusing.
Two days later, Swift was in a set alongside Kelce’s mother, Donna Kelce, and the group hasn’t been the identical since.
Taylor Swift watches throughout a daily season sport between the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and the Chicago Bears at GEHA Discipline at Arrowhead Stadium on September 24, 2023 in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri. David Eulitt/Getty Photographs
Patrick Mahomes Didn’t Consider Taylor Swift Was Really Exhibiting Up
Whereas there was a palpable buzz inside Arrowhead Stadium about Swift’s potential arrival, Chiefs quarterback Mahomes was reluctant to purchase into the hype — even after getting a heads-up from Travis himself.
“He advised me throughout the week,” Mahomes, 29, mentioned of Swift attending the sport. “It was a kind of ‘I gotta see it.’ Like, I gotta see it till I consider it.”
As soon as contained in the stadium on sport day, Mahomes turned a believer.
Because the Philadelphia Eagles had been gearing up for the season in the summertime of 2012, tragedy struck the staff’s then-head coach, Andy Reid, and his household. “We had been on the brink of play a preseason sport that week,” former Eagles director of professional personnel, Lewis Riddick, recalled in episode 2 of The Kingdom, premiering Thursday, August […]
“You may see folks within the stadium gravitating towards the place she was at,” he mentioned.
The Kingdom cameras captured Mahomes and Travis wanting up within the route of Swift in her suite, with each gamers marveling on the state of affairs.
“That’s the primary individual I observed,” Mahomes advised Travis. “I didn’t see anyone else.”
How the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs Locker Room Reacted to Taylor Swift’s Arrival
As soon as Swift hit Arrowhead, the Chiefs locker room received to gossiping.
Chiefs defensive sort out Chris Jones recalled gamers whispering to one another, “You already know Taylor Swift is right here. Taylor Swift. For actual? With Travis? Oh my God!”
“We had been like, ‘Oh my God, Travis pulled Taylor Swift,” Jones, 31, mentioned.
Taylor Swift’s 1st Look at Chiefs Sport Was a Conundrum for Journalists
After the Chiefs’ victory over the Bears, ESPN’s Nate Taylor (previously of The Athletic), mentioned the plans for his sport day protection went out the window.
“No matter I used to be going to jot down that day, I gotta embody Taylor Swift within the story,” Taylor mentioned on The Kingdom. “We go all the way down to the locker room. There’s this awkward dance of like, ‘Nice win, good job.’ Get that each one out of the way in which. ‘Do you know about Taylor Swift?’”
Taylor added, “You couldn’t write sufficient about her. You couldn’t speak sufficient about her.”
ESPN’s Mina Kimes admitted that he took her some time to consider that Swift and Kelce had been the actual deal — till it turned not possible to disclaim.
“I’ll be straight-up. I didn’t suppose it was an actual relationship,” Kimes mentioned within the sequence. “After which she stored displaying up, and I used to be like, ‘Oh man. Ain’t nobody going to Kansas Metropolis that a lot for a faux relationship.’”
The primary two episodes of The Kingdom can be found on ESPN+, with episodes 3 and 4 premiering on Tuesday, August 19, and episodes 5 and 6 premiering on Wednesday, August 20, on ESPN.
