By Michael GallagherShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberFew have benefitted more from the relationship between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift than the Kansas City Chiefs.
The team has seen a spike in television ratings, merchandise sales, ticket sales, and social media engagement thanks to the 14-time Grammy-winning pop star — but it wasn’t by design.
During a recent appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Up & Adams,” Chiefs president Mark Donovan revealed that he and the rest of the members of the organization made sure when the couple started dating not to take advantage of Kelce’s high-profile relationship.
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“I told Travis this, like look, ‘We’re going to treat you and your relationship with the same respect that we treat any other player who’s in a relationship. We’re not going to monetize it, we’re not going to go out there and go crazy.' For a couple years…we never showed Taylor on our big board in our stadium, never.
“It was respectful. We’re not taking advantage of this relationship. I joked with him early on in the first year (of their relationship) we never played a Taylor Swift song in the stadium when she is in the building.”
While the Chiefs were respectful of Kelce’s private life right out of the gate, Donovan also insinuated that the Pro Bowl TE requested the team not draw any attention to Swift so it didn’t create any division between himself and his teammates.
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“Travis, to his credit, is all about the team, is all about the guys and is all about being part of the team, and not being separate,” Donovan stated. “He said that [playing her songs and showing her on the video board] that separates me. When we are playing a game, when we are in the stadium, it's about us and I want it to be about us.”
Though some expected to see a drop off in Kelce’s production this season given he’s 36 and coming off the worst season of his career since his rookie year, statistically, he’s actually been the team’s most productive pass-catcher.
Through 12 games, Kelce has 59 catches on 78 targets for 719 yards and five touchdowns. Among all TEs, Kelce ranks second in yards, third in receptions, fourth in targets, and fifth in touchdown catches.
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