With unflinching confidence, Taylor Swift says farewell to her critic, declaring that she and Travis will triumph over any attempt to bring them down.

CELEBRITYWith unflinching confidence, Taylor Swift says farewell to her critic, declaring that she and Travis will triumph over any attempt to bring them down.Published 1 min ago on May 12, 2024By Nancy Johnson

Like many other Swifties, I’m excited about the public spectacle that is Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce courting Taylor Swift. Unlike anyone else on the face of the planet, I am also excited because this budding union gives me an opportunity to talk about a show that has haunted me since 2016. That show is Kelce’s reality dating competition series “Catching Kelce.” As both a football fan and dating show connoisseur, I dutifully watched all seven episodes when they aired and Kelce has occupied a section of my brain ever since. Since I’m a Swiftie first and football fan second, I thought it was important to share what I learned from rewatching the series.

Kelce’s first public attempt to find love aired on E! in October 2016 when he wasn’t quite the name he is today. In the years following “Catching Kelce,” the tight end would go on to win two Super Bowls with the Chiefs, hold the record for the most consecutive 1,000+ yards seasons for his position and be selected for eight consecutive Pro Bowls. At that time, he was just another football player, desperate enough to say yes to an E! dating show, but interesting enough to warrant one. Meanwhile, Swift had just gotten into a relationship with actor Joe Alwyn, whom she recently broke up with. She was about to disappear completely from the public eye for a year, fall madly in love and begin her “reputation” era.

Travis was in his “Lover” era though, trying his luck with reality TV dating. E! flew out 50 women — one from each state — to line the gridiron of the Coliseum with pom poms in hand to meet their potential future boyfriend. After being given literally 60 seconds with the women, Kelce swiftly cut the pool down to just 20. It was the most brutal cut I have ever seen in any dating show and I need to know why producers didn’t go with less women from the start. (Why not 32, one for each NFL team, for example?) The random association with the 50 states also resulted in Kelce mostly referring to the women by their states instead of their names. There was a lot of “You surprised me, New Jersey,” and “I could really see something with Missouri.” He also sent women home by saying, “I’m gonna have to ask you to go back to [their state].”