Excitement among Swift fans grows as Super Bowl nears
By Jenna Wilson
Travis Kelce may or may not be the one some fans are looking forward to seeing the most at Super Bowl LVIII.
If you’re a Kansas City Chiefs fan, you’ve probably heard the name ‘Taylor Swift’ countless times to this point.
Swift’s high-profile relationship with the Chiefs’ tight end has generated Kansas City fans across the world. According to some residents who were already Chiefs fans, Swift was just the missing piece to the puzzle.
“I know that I can speak for so many Swifties out there when I say we are thrilled that she’s dating Travis Kelce,” resident Angela Smith said. “It’s almost every girls dreams to be dating the quarterback on the football team or, you know, things like that. She’s getting to live that dream and showing her support and I think it’s amazing. It’s such a huge experience for all of us in Kansas City, especially those who are Taylor Swift fans and Chiefs fans.”
Smith can attest to being a true Chiefs and Swift fan as she showed off two signed footballs in her home, one signed from former Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith and another from Travis Kelce.
She also has a collection of Taylor Swift albums, starting from ‘Speak Now’ her third studio album, which she likes to listen to on her vinyl record player. Fans are hopeful the Chiefs will come out with the victory.
“We actually live here and I didn’t get to go to the parade last year,” Smith said. “So I’m really hoping for another parade so my husband and I can make it down there. We’ve even turned my husband, who’s from New York and a Giants fan. He ordered a Pacheco jersey for the Super Bowl.”
Somehow, it almost seems like Swift was meant to make her way back to Kansas City some fans say.
St. Joseph resident Amy Meyer recalled the time her father, Mike Hirter, was Swift’s escort to the stage when she performed at Trails West in St. Joseph.
“He talked about how sweet she was and I remember him saying, she’s going to be famous,” Meyer said. “I was just like, ‘how do you know that?’ And here we are. I just love it.”
Swift fans are even mapping out whether she will make it to the Super Bowl as she’s set to perform in Tokyo the night before.
“It’s 13 hours back from Japan,” Meyer said. “She can start her concert an hour early or two hours even if she wants to. We already know the jet will be fueled up and ready to go. She can leave the stage right after singing Karma, hit the jet, then she’ll be in Vegas. I have faith; believe she will make it.”
Local author Elora Chapman, who’s a Chiefs and Swift fan, is so thrilled about the couple’s relationship it inspired her to write a romance novel titled ‘Blindsided by the Spotlight.’
“I never thought I would write anything remotely close to like a fun rom com,” she said. “But that day, that first game in September, when Taylor Swift showed up and they panned to her, I, like lost my mind, as all Swifties did and all Chiefs fans as well. I knew their story would make such a fun book so I guess that was my little marketing brain going to work.”
From romance novels to custom made jerseys, Swift fans are making sure they show their support in every way and local fan shops predict they’ll be seeing plenty of Swift gear coming in soon.
“I know some of our Kansas City stores do have one of the Swiftie jerseys in stock,” said Taylor Faucett, store manager at Rally house. “I’m hoping that we are going to get some up here as well because the jerseys are going to be an even bigger talk with the Super Bowl approaching.”
