“Why didn’t Jason bring jeans for Jason?”
Since he started dating Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce’s allure as a heartthrob has only grown. But even before Kelce and Swift were an item, the NFL player was known for his charm. Fifty women actually competed for the chance to date him back in 2016 on E!’s reality competition show, Catching Kelce.
Whether he was meeting prospective bachelorettes on a football field or misspelling squirrel on X, formerly called Twitter, Kelce’s been perfecting his charisma for over a decade. There’s a reason Swift fell for the Chiefs tight end after he publicized his crush on her in July.
“We started hanging out right after that,” she told TIME in December. Apparently, his comfort with being a public figure — one with his own array of viral moments — was part of the appeal.
“When you say a relationship is public, that means I’m going to see him do what he loves, we’re showing up for each other, other people are there and we don’t care,” she added. “The opposite of that is you have to go to an extreme amount of effort to make sure no one knows that you’re seeing someone. And we’re just proud of each other.”
Here are 10 of Kelce’s most lovable viral moments so far.
Someone’s old tweets going viral is hardly ever a good thing. But in Kelce’s case, his online musings circa 2011 just made him more lovable. In a Nov. 22 episode of the New Heights podcast, he admitted to being “tortured” by the resurfaced tweets.
He explained, “What’s hilarious is that nobody followed me back then, and I was just using Twitter as like a diary. I’m just out here just saying nonsense.”
Turns out, his younger self’s biggest problem was being a bad speller. “[I] spelled squirrel like a jack*ss,” Kelce said on his podcast. The tweet in question? “I just gave a squirle a peice of bread and it straight smashed all of it!!!! I had no idea they ate bread like that!!”
During their October 2023 New York City date night, Swift and Kelce’s body language made quite the impression. Per an Entertainment Tonight source, “They were holding hands throughout the night, whispering into each other's ear, and they even exchanged some kisses.”
Fans couldn’t get enough of their sweet PDA. One tweeted, “travis kelce holding taylor swift’s hand like a football cause she’s the catch of a lifetime.” Another wrote on X, “Travis Kelce holding Taylor Swift’s hand like a football is taking me out.”
The summer after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, in June 2023, the team was hosted by the White House. Kelce made a point to have some fun at the event, even taking over the podium at one point, only to be pulled back by Patrick Mahomes.
Kelce headed to Argentina to watch the Eras Tour in November. While standing next to Swift’s dad, Scott Swift, he held up a sign reading, “We will stay.” The message was part of a fan project inspired by Swift’s song “The Archer.” In it, she asks, “Who could ever leave me, darlin’? / But who could stay?”
During an episode of New Heights, Kylie Kelce — Travis’ sister-in-law — opened up about hoping to get a cat, something that Jason was against. Instantly, Travis asked Kylie what color cat she wanted, clearly planning to get the pet for her (sans Jason giving the OK).
“I don’t want you to send a cat,” she clarified, but it seems like the offer from Travis still stands.
Jason Kelce did not dress up for the premiere of Kelce, a movie focused on his 2022 football season. When Travis poked fun at his brother’s outfit choice (shorts and flip flops), Jason tried pinning the blame on his wife, Kylie. According to Jason, Kylie was supposed to bring his jeans to the premiere, but was running late and forgot.
Travis didn’t let that slide, though. “Why didn’t Jason bring jeans for Jason?” he asked his brother, pointing out that his wife was responsible for getting his three daughters ready for their babysitter. Jason responded, “I’m realizing now I probably can’t blame Kylie for this one.”
Kelce and Swift’s romance started after he saw her perform on the Eras Tour. In July, he spoke about his crush on the singer during an episode of his podcast.
“I was disappointed that she doesn't talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings,” he explained at the time. "So I was a little butthurt I didn't get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her."
His comments got Swift’s attention. “This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,” she told TIME in December. “We started hanging out right after that.”
In January, Swift wore a “TNT” friendship bracelet to Kelce’s AFC Championship game — something the jewelry brand Wove (who made the piece) confirmed was a gift from Kelce. Apparently, he ordered a matching one, too.
Kelce made a surprise appearance on SNL in October during a sketch that poked fun at the NFL’s love for Swift. After Pete Davidson acted out the role of a Swiftie sideline reporter, Kenan Thompson (playing Curt Menefee) said, “You know what, I’m done. When we get back, we’re going to speak to someone who actually wants to talk football.”
Then, Kelce appeared onscreen, responding to Thompson’s request: “Yes, please!” Later, Swift went onstage, too, to announce Ice Spice’s performance.
Travis’ relationship with his nieces is worth all the hype. In a TikTok posted by @NFLonFOX, Jason told a reporter, “My daughters might love him more than they love me.”
A reminder: A clip of Travis asking one of his nieces, “Hey, baby girl. How you doin’?” went viral in February 2023. At the time, one fan tweeted, “My love language is Travis Kelce saying ‘hey baby girl, how you doin’?’”
The internet might joke that Swift put Kelce “on the map,” but he was making a name for himself before dating the superstar — and no, this isn’t a reference to his impressive football career. Before he was a Super Bowl champ, Kelce previously acted as E!’s version of the Bachelor in his very own dating show, Catching Kelce, in 2016.
