Travis Kelce Subtly Quoted Taylor Swift Lyrics in a Post-Game Interview

He's part doting boyfriend, part shameless fanboy.

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs' victory against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game at M&T Bank Stadium on January 28, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

It feels like a perfect night...to remind the world once again that Travis Kelce is an unabashed Swiftie at heart.

During a post-game interview after the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory over the Houston Texans in the AFC playoff game on Saturday, Jan. 18, the NFL tight end saw an opportunity to make a Taylor Swift reference and he went for it without hesitation or shame.

The moment came during an interview in the locker room at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, when a reporter asked the 35-year-old athlete if the Chiefs' victory over the Texans had him “Feeling 25 again?”

For any diehard Swiftie, one number automatically comes to mind (and probably always will) if the idea of "feeling" any specific age is mentioned in any context. And, because Kelce is one such diehard Swiftie, he didn't miss a beat before replying (with a huge, gleeful grin), “22, baby. 22."

This is far from the only time Kelce has made it clear that, in addition to being Swift's boyfriend, he's also genuinely one of her biggest fans. One of the best places to turn for examples of Kelce in Taylor Swift fanboy mode is his New Heights podcast, where he routinely references Swift's work during conversations with his brother and co-host, Jason Kelce.

While the tight end's interview answer was a blatant reference to the song "22," the Red era track isn't one of Travis Kelce's all-time favorite Taylor Swift songs—something we can say with confidence because he listed his personal favorites in a November episode of his podcast.

“I mean ‘Blank Space’ is a song that I’ll always listen to forever,” he said (per People) of the hit single from Swift's Grammy-winning 2014 album 1989. “It’s just unbelievable, everything about it.”

Kelce also listed "Cowboy Like Me" from 2020's Evermore and "Death By a Thousand Cuts," from 2019's Lover, the latter of which he says grew on him over time.

Taylor Swift: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert - YouTube Taylor Swift: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert - YouTube
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“I’ll throw a few new ones out there. ‘Death By a Thousand Cuts’ is one that I’ve learned to absolutely love," he added. “I’ve watched Tay’s NPR, her Tiny Desk and she played it on that one and that’s where I fell in love with it."

He also admitted to having a soft spot for at least one song Swift is believed to have written about him—but what super fan wouldn't love a song written about them, right?

“On top of that I mean ‘The Alchemy’ can’t go wrong with that one," he said of the song, which appears on her most recent album, The Tortured Poets Department.

Contributing Editor at Marie Claire

Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years of professional experience covering entertainment of all genres, from new movie and TV releases to nostalgia, and celebrity news. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.