The Week 3 matchup between the Chiefs and Bears will go down as one of those where-were-you-when moments. Not only because the 41–10 victory by Kansas City signified Chicago entering official crisis mode, but also due to the fact that the Sunday afternoon game at Arrowhead Stadium inked a connection between the NFL world and the world (universe, galaxy, whatever is bigger than a galaxy, I should say) of Taylor Swift.
The Chiefs are familiar with passionate fan bases. Not only do they boast one of their own, obviously, but they also have some recent history with their Super Bowl LVII opponents, the Eagles. For the Swifties reading, yes, the same Eagles that Travis Kelce’s brother, Jason, has been an anchor of for 13 (coincidence?) years. So more specifically, the Kelce family knows a thing or two about wild fan bases. Now, it doesn’t make sense to try to compare fandoms. For one, it doesn’t matter. If we’re being honest—the most powerful of them all is not one or the other, but rather, the growing overlap. Myself included. Second, knowing how Swifties operate, anyone who wasn’t already a football fan is about to show some serious dedication to learning about it. We’re talking about the same fandom that has been dutifully keeping up with CD booklets, music videos, Instagram posts, speeches and more for years in the off chance of catching a clue (Easter eggs, they’re known as) about something upcoming from Swift. And seriously, for those who weren’t there—these fan theories can be about anything, from a clue as obvious as word puzzles on Google (fans quickly broke the site) or as obscure as an Instagram post that features a fence with a certain number of holes in it. But I digress.
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