There’s no official job description for being the NFL’s most famous wingman, but if there were, Patrick Mahomes would be tenured by now. He’s played QB1 to Travis Kelce on the field – and off it, he’s watched his tight end rewrite the playbook on romance. Back in 2022, Kelce showed up for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour with a handmade friendship bracelet and a bold idea: give her one with his jersey number on it. But fate didn’t exactly draw up the play. He never got to meet her. “I was a little b—t hurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her,” Kelce said on New Heights Podcast. For a guy who runs routes through triple coverage, rejection hits differently.

But Mahomes wasn’t about to let his tight end’s love story fizzle in the preseason. He stepped in – literally. “I’d like to take some of the credit,” Mahomes said on The Pat McAfee Show. “I was the one who invited Travis to the first Taylor concert…he was sitting in my suite — so I feel like I was the matchmaker.” The same guy who can throw sidearm lasers into triple coverage also throws world-class advice. “I had some input in there as well,” Mahomes added. “I was like, ‘Dude, just go for it. Just go for it.’” That wasn’t just bro talk. That was destiny in a headband. And Kelce? He went for it.

Fast forward to 2025, and Travis Kelce finally posted the photo album that broke the internet. A 13-slide highlight reel of his offseason with Taylor Swift – complete with yacht pics, quiet vacation moments, and one blockbuster snow-falling shot of him and Taylor alongside Erin Andrews, Charissa Thompson, and their significant others. It was the first time he had ever posted Swift on his Instagram, with a caption, “Had some adventures this offseason, kept it 💯.” And it quickly became the most-liked photo set of his entire career. Mahomes’ reaction? Just two emojis: “❤️💪🏽.” That’s it. No long captions. Just a quiet emoji drop from the guy who helped spark the most high-profile relationship in sports. When your teammate wins the offseason and the algorithm, you don’t try to match the moment – you just let it breathe.

It’s not the first time Mahomes has spoken about the pop icon now orbiting Chiefs Nation. In his 2024 TIME profile, Mahomes gushed about Swift’s work ethic and football IQ. “I’ve met a lot of famous people now in my life. Taylor’s probably the most down-to-earth person that’s been on that stage for that long,” he said. “She’s never not working. Even when she’s taking her downtime, she’s working on something…You can see it by how she talks.” But it wasn’t just her hustle that impressed Mahomes – it was how seriously she treated the sport.

With her Eras Tour on pause, Swift reportedly plans to attend “as many of his [Travis] games as possible,” according to People. Gone are the days of frantic private jet flights between shows. For the first full NFL season since the two started dating, Swift has no competing tour schedule. That means she’ll be a recurring presence at Arrowhead – and every other stadium the Chiefs visit this fall. The league isn’t just bracing for a Super Bowl run. It’s preparing for a full-blown spectacle. But while Travis Kelce is dominating timelines, Andy Reid is quietly recalibrating game plans.

Andy Reid quietly reworks the Kelce equation

Last season exposed the soft spots in Kansas City’s receiving corps. Injuries sidelined Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. Rashee Rice, the team’s breakout star, played just four games and is now tangled in legal trouble. Their passing yards per game dropped from 261.4 in 2023 to 222.4 last season – 6th to 14th in the league. And with Rice now facing a likely suspension following his guilty plea in the Dallas crash, Reid’s options are messy at best.

Sure, the team added names. Brown’s still there. So are Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jalen Royals, and Nikko Remigio. But options without availability don’t solve problems. Reid might have to cut ties with someone notable just to make room. And with no clear WR1, he’s doubling down on the one thing that still works: the Mahomes-Kelce connection.

Travis Kelce was supposed to get a lighter workload. He’s 35. He’s talked openly about how his body’s taken a hit. There were whispers about reducing his role, easing the mileage. But that was before the WR room turned into a question mark. Now? He’s the answer. Again. Ryan Clark said it best on NFL Live: “This team is still going 15–2 no matter who’s on the field… it revolves around Travis Kelce. It revolves around Patrick Mahomes.” That’s been Reid’s emergency plan for years: if everything else breaks, go back to the duo that never does.

So sure, Kelce spent the offseason breaking the internet with Swift. But when the helmets go on and the lights come up, he’s still breaking defenses. And with Reid tweaking his playbook and Mahomes firing on all cylinders, it’s clear: this season might start with a love story – but it’s still going to end with No. 87 right in the middle of everything. Again.