BALTIMORE — Taylor Swift gave Travis Kelce a short peck and embraced him with a big hug after he and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens to advance to the Super Bowl, and then the two locked lips with a smooch seen around the football world.
Sealed with a kiss, Swift now might be Las Vegas bound to cheer on her boyfriend as he and the Chiefs seek back-to-back titles. … “Ready For It”?
Swift, almost certainly the biggest star on the planet whose romance with Kelce became one of the prominent stories this NFL season, was front and center throughout the Chiefs’ 17-10 victory in the AFC championship game and their celebration afterward.
Before accepting the Lamar Hunt Trophy for the fourth time in five years, coach Andy Reid, standing on stage, found Swift in the crowd and pointed at her. Swift pointed back.
She and Kelce walked arm and arm around the field afterward, long after many of his teammates had gone to the locker room. Kelce asked where his brother Jason was, and Swift stepped away for them to have a moment.
Jason Kelce, also a Super Bowl champion and an All-Pro center with the Philadelphia Eagles who lost to the Chiefs in last year’s Super Bowl, hugged Travis and told him to finish the job again. Travis asked Jason, who stole the show last week in Buffalo by celebrating the Chiefs’ win shirtless in the cold, if he was going to keep his shirt on this time.
Travis Kelce never made it to speak to reporters afterward. Swift was clearly a bigger priority for him.
“You can tell he loves this game,” rookie receiver Rashee Rice said. “Honestly, I could tell that he loved this victory more than any victory this season.”
The only thing that endangers Swift being at Allegiant Stadium when the Chiefs face either the San Francisco 49ers or Detroit Lions in the Super Bowl on Feb. 11 is her “Eras Tour” schedule. She has concerts set for Tokyo on Friday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 10, but the time difference would allow her to be on hand for the game.
As for the travel plans of her Kansas City-based fans: American Airlines added a flight from Kansas City to Las Vegas on Feb. 10, the day before the Super Bowl, at 12:30 p.m. local time — flight 1989 for Swift’s birth year and one of her albums. After the game, flight 87 — Kelce’s jersey number — leaves Las Vegas for Kansas City at 12:20 a.m. local time on Feb. 12.
Swift was shown early and often during the AFC title game. She could be seen cheering and jumping up and down from her suite with Kelce’s family and friends — and celebrity pals Cara Delevingne and Keleigh Teller — in the corner of the stadium after Kelce caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes midway through the first quarter.
Their celebrations were plentiful, as Kelce finished with 11 catches for 116 yards, in the process breaking Jerry Rice’s record for the most receptions in postseason play.
CBS cut to Swift while advertising its upcoming Grammy Awards broadcast and showed her again after Kelce made a big catch in the second quarter.
Kelce, a four-time All-Pro tight end and two-time Super Bowl champion with the Chiefs, has three TD catches this postseason. He had two last week in Kansas City’s divisional round victory at Buffalo, with Swift in attendance.
Swift has been a regular at Kelce’s games for several months, bringing the league even more attention from her passionate fan base of “Swifties” who helped break ratings records during the regular season and playoffs.
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