Travis Kelce fought back tears on his return to the Kansas City Chiefs locker room before later reuniting with Taylor Swift following the most humiliating night of his career at the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
The devastated Chiefs tight end, 35, had misery etched across his face as Kansas City’s ‘three-peat’ dreams ended in disarray with a brutal 40-22 loss at the hands of Philadelphia Eagles. Kelce spoke briefly to reporters in the locker room and then headed up to the suite where Swift and his family watched the game.
Kelce must now decide if he wants to keep on playing from here. If this is the last time Kelce is suited up for the Chiefs, it is hard to imagine a worse way for him to walk away from the game.
It could not have been further from last year’s jubilant scenes with Swift, as America’s most popular couple kissed on the field after a night of glory in Las Vegas. This time around, as Kelce went missing on the field, Swift was booed mercilessly by a stadium packed with Eagles fans as she appeared on the jumbotron.
She didn’t look impressed, and President Donald Trump didn’t waste the opportunity to taunt his nemesis on Truth Social after making history by becoming the first sitting President to go to a Super Bowl.
‘The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift. She got BOOED out of the Stadium. MAGA is very unforgiving!’ Trump wrote.
Travis Kelce congratulates Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts after the Super Bowl
Taylor Swift watched on from the stands on a night of misery for Kelce and his team
Swift sat with the Haim sisters, Ice Spice, Ashley Avignone and many of Kelce’s friends
Trump also shared footage of Swift getting booed from all corners of the stadium, comparing it to how he was cheered when he appeared on the jumbotron before the national anthem. It was a terrible night for Kelce, but it couldn’t have gone much worse for Swift, as Trump said himself.
There was no immediate sign of the singer after the game ended.
She took a seat in the stands to cheer Kelce on for what he had called the biggest game of his career. It ended in ruins, a merciless humbling for one of the great characters of the NFL. He recorded four receptions for 39 yards.
‘Hats off to the Eagles, man. We couldn’t get it going offensively,’ Kelce said to reporters in the locker room. ‘We just couldn’t find that spark, couldn’t find that momentum.’
Kelce said he believed at halftime that the Chiefs could turn the game around.
‘100% believed,’ he said. ‘Never lose doubt. This team is going to fight to the end forever. I think there was a lot of things going wrong.
‘Everything was not really going our way today. You don’t lose like that without everything going bad. We haven’t played that bad all year.’
For all of his undoubted love of the game, Kelce now has to ask himself if he can outrun Father Time.
Donald Trump didn’t waste his chance to stick the boot in on Taylor Swift after the game
His performance level has dipped this season, of that there can be no question, even while considering that he has had to do more blocking for his offense and muck in with the harder yards.
And after a week of carefully fielding questions about his team being on the brink of history, and his future plans with Swift, there was a surprising misstep as the couple headed out for dinner on Friday night with Patrick and Brittany Mahomes.
They didn’t break any team rules but it is unprecedented to see players out and about so close to the game. It has left him exposed to criticism after a frankly awful performance – the same can be said of his quarterback, too, who looked utterly bewildered by how the night had unfolded.
Mahomes was asked about his close friend’s future in the game.
‘Kelce still has good football left in him,’ Mahomes said. ‘It’s about if he wants to go through the grind of another season. I’ll let Travis make that decision on his own.
‘It’s a grind to go through 20 games to get to a Super Bowl, or whatever it is. I know he still has the love for the game. We love that guy.’
Kelce is expected to clarify his future by March 12, the start of the NFL’s free agency. Reports on Saturday night said that Kelce’s future may hinge on the result of the Super Bowl.
Kelce applauds Chiefs fans as he makes his way off the field for potentially the final time
Kelce arrived for the game in an outlandish suit but that was as much as he caught the eye
There was little for Swift to cheer from her suite in the stadium, where she was joined by Ice Spice and two of the Haim sisters to watch Kelce’s big night.
Trump, meanwhile, had seen enough by the third quarter and left but it was a successful night for him.
As well as rubbing Swift’s nose in the loss, he also met the families of the New Orleans terror attack victims on the field before the Super Bowl began.
While he was there, Kelce’s teammate Chris Jones raced over to Trump to shake his hand. It was as good as the night got for Jones.
