July 8 marks one year since the day that Travis Kelce attended the Eras Tour at Arrowhead Stadium, armed with a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it. I believe that’s Day One of Travis/Taylor lore. (Side note: What is their portmanteau? Tayvis? Traylor?) I don’t know if Travis will make an appearance at that show at Taylor’s July 9 show in Zürich, Switzerland or there will be some nod to it from Taylorland or whatever. I know it’s not the day that they met or had their first date, but Taylor’s big into fate and the Universe, so it would not surprise me if she had something in store for us on July 8 or at her July 9 Eras stop.
Either way, it’s been a really big year for Travis. I know he was rich and famous on his own, way before Taylor called that number on the friendship bracelet, but I think we can all agree that she is in another stratosphere. He always looks like the cat that ate the canary. Travis recently sat down for an interview with Good Morning America to talk about how awesome his life is right now, how grateful he is for all of it, and how he stays grounded, thanks to a good support system.
“When you have good family and friends around you, it makes that aspect in life that much easier,” said Kelce, 34.
“I’ve always been a very grounded guy,” he said. “It might not come off like that when I’m playing football but off the field, I just want to be a genuine person. I try not to get too far down the road because you just never know when opportunities are going to present themselves.”
Asked by ABC correspondent Will Reeve to rate his life on a scale of 1-10, Kelce said “20? 100?”
“I’m so fortunate, so grateful of everything that come my way in life,” he said. “I feel like I’m on top of the mountain, even after winning the Super Bowl and having the off-season that I’m having. Living the dream, baby.”
Kelce, 34, and Swift, 34, first sparked dating rumors in September 2023 after Swift attended a handful of Kelce’s games. While appearing on The Pat McAfee Show podcast, Kelce previously revealed that he invited Swift to attend one of his games, teasing that he “threw the ball in her court” after seeing her perform at Arrowhead Stadium during her Eras Tour in July 2023.
The two confirmed their romance in October 2023 when they stepped out holding hands at a Saturday Night Live afterparty. A source told PEOPLE at the time the pair were still in the “super, super early days” of getting to know one another but are “having fun.”
While doing press ahead of the 2024 Super Bowl, Kelce opened up about Swift and elaborated about what it’s like managing the extra media attention that comes from dating her. “You asked me how it is,” Kelce began. “And to be honest, I’m learning throughout this all.”
He added, “I’m just kind of on the plane ride, just cruising and trying to figure this thing out on the run,” as he navigates his surging fame while dating Swift.
You know, I actually do not doubt that Travis is a “very grounded guy.” I mean, I’m sure he loves the attention that he and Taylor get, but off-field, we never hear anything bad about him, behaviorwise. There’s nothing about him being rude to fans or demanding crazy riders or getting into arguments with servers in restaurants. People are always talking about how great and kind the entire Kelce family is, too. When Travis says that it’s helpful that he has good family and friends around him, I believe it. I honestly think that Travis has a leg up because he is not surrounded by “yes men” who take him out of reality. I also think you need to be grounded if you’re going to be in Taylor’s orbit, or at least have a spectacular ability to brush that dirt off your shoulder. Grounded, nice, easygoing, and okay with his girlfriend having an insane level of fame? Maybe Taylor really did find a unicorn.
.@tkelce is opening up to @reevewill about his life, sharing some updates from recent events including his acting debut, his visit to the White House and his future plans: "I'm so fortunate and so grateful [for] everything that's come my way in life."https://t.co/m0tmjhfEtC pic.twitter.com/iaIrTKo61d
— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 6, 2024
Photos credit: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images
He has handled Taylor’s fame and the media attention he has recieved well, but the boost caused by her stardom will really help his long-term prospects as his NFL career winds down. Is someone who has exhibited his temper to such an extent on the field really grounded? The helmet throwing/getting him his elderly coaches face meltdown was not a great look.
eh athletes can get pretty heated, particularly team sport athletes. Just look at the WNBA.
For a sport that pretty much guarantees brain damage, that’s on the tamer side of NFL tempers. Hope he gets out before it gets too bad.
This.
I wonder if she’s ready to lock it down with him? He sounds pretty stable, grounded and mature. At this point If they break up itll probably be her decision.
I love that he’s showing men how to be unabashedly supportive of a woman who is more successful than he is.
She may be the first superstar woman to have a man proud and vocal and showing up.
Which means a generation of young women are seeing how they *should* be treated.
And he is showing young men how it can be done with swagger and ease without sulking and wanting a woman to dim her shine to suit him.
I love that.
I mean- I’m a take your time person – it hasn’t been a year yet and there are lots of reasons why well intentioned people who love each other don’t end up together.
But the romantic in me is hopeful for them.
A certain football player with an internationally famous gymnast wife should consider taking notes on how to be a proud partner of an astoundingly successful woman.
Jonathan Owens has been really stepping it up. Attending meets, sitting with family, being a riveted and excited fan in the stands, keeping track of everyone’s scores on paper, tweeting his praise, etc. It’s been good to see.
Travis does this very very well but I feel like we have to give credit to Alexis Ohanian who, while also very successful in his own right, seems to be an awesome partner for Serena Williams.
Natalie you are so right.
He is wonderful at publicly supporting his wife.
These men give me hope.
TnT. I will accept no alternative.
Yes, TNT is the only nickname we need for them. No name-smushing.
Yes TNT is the right answer!
Never uttered a word about the VILE abuse his ex of 6 years suffered from after he got with T.’Swift. So yeah not worth it in my book