The NFL Gave Travis Kelce a New Name to Honor Taylor Swift Because Why Not?

Taylor Swift has been the internet's favorite topic for what seems like generations now, and that has meant that her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, has also gotten plenty of attention. Although Travis is still working on the field to propel his team to another Super Bowl victory, much of the media attention he's received over the 2023-2024 season has been for his relationship with Taylor.

Now, the NFL has taken that coverage to a new level. In a preview video for this weekend's playoff game against the Miami Dolphins, the video's narrator refers to Travis as Travis Swift. Now, many are wondering whether that new name is for real.

Travis has not made any announcement suggesting that he has changed his name. It seems like the team behind that NFL video was instead just trolling Travis, and reminding everyone in the audience that he has one of the more high-profile NFL partners in the history of the league.

The NFL is the most popular sports league in America by a wide margin, but even they have not been afraid to take advantage of Taylor's star power during this season. At one point, the cover photo for the league's official social media channels was a picture of Taylor rooting for Travis at a game, and they even changed their handle to include the parenthetical "Taylor's Version." This name change seems to be just another small version of that same trend.

Although there has been plenty of speculation that the couple is engaged, there has been no indication that Taylor and Travis are married. He hasn't changed his name, and there's no reason to think he would change his last name even if they did get married.

For as much love as Taylor has received from America and the rest of the world, there has also been a fair share of backlash, especially from diehard football fans who consider her to be a distraction. Thankfully, those fans are a distinct minority, but they have become so vocal in some circles that none other than Stephen A. Smith felt the need to come to Taylor's defense against the many fans who wanted to tear her down.

In a post on his TikTok account, the popular ESPN pundit said that he felt the need to defend the pop star.

"Everybody's sitting up there and acting like she's some kind of impediment. Excuse me? She did her job. That Eras tour - off the chain, generated billions," he said in the video.

He added that the idea that she was at games to promote her concerts was ludicrous.

"Those kids were going to the concert whether the NFL was promoting her or not," he said.

Many Taylor Swift fans appreciated Stephen's support, especially because it came as something of a surprise. While Taylor has plenty of fans in the world of music, sports pundits haven't typically wanted to talk much about the singer, in part because they'd rather focus on the sport. As anyone who knows Stephen knows, though, it's not always easy to confine the man to a single topic or even set of topics.