September 20, 2023
The internet was abuzz Wednesday after it seemed like Jason Kelce had confirmed a romance between Taylor Swift and his brother, Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, but upon listening more closely to the audio from the interview, it sounds like the Philadelphia Eagles center immediately backtracked after saying the rumors were "a hundred percent true."
Jason Kelce made the comment and the joke on the "WIP Morning Show" during his weekly appearance Wednesday. The conversation about the Eagles season took a left turn when host Joe DeCamara made a reference to the rumors about Swift and Travis Kelce, and Jason Kelce took over the conversation from there.
MORE: Taylor Swift turned her Eras Tour into a movie that hits theaters in October
"It's hard to answer because I don't really know a lot about what's happening in Travis' love life," Kelce said. '"And I try to like keep a ... you know ... his business kind of his business, and stay out of that world."
Then Kelce added, "But having said that, man, I think they're doing great, and I think it's all a hundred percent true. And I hope this thing goes a mile."
Right away, with his voice a bit quieter, Kelce said, "Nah, I'm joking. I don't know what's happening." Making the clip more confusing, as Kelce made that qualifying statement, DeCamara's co-host Jon Ritchie, exclaimed, "Whoa!" to what he and many others thought was breaking gossip news.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, 94WIP shared a 46-second clip with Kelce's comment and wrote "Jason Kelce confirms Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are dating." After that, PhillyVoice was among several news sites that reported the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift rumor as true. Nearly all these sites had changed their reporting by Wednesday afternoon.
Jason Kelce confirms Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are dating 👀 pic.twitter.com/SvNjXJ9cuL
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) September 20, 2023
Jason Kelce also was asked about Travis and Swift after the Eagles' "Thursday Night Football" win over the Vikings. He appeared on Amazon Prime's postgame show, where host Tony Gonzalez — whose 15-year-old daughter is a "big fan of a certain pop star" — asked about the situation. Jason declined to comment while quarterback Jalen Hurts chuckled to himself.
Gonzalez's question was just one example of Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift references leaking into football commentary. NFL Network host Rich Eisen made allusions to several Swift songs while discussing Travis' first game back after injuring his knee. "Even though that bone bruise and the injury one would think is 'Delicate,' he's been able to 'Shake It Off,'" Eisen said.
While Travis has not spoken about the rumors, he did leave a comment on Eisen's post. "Well played Rich…. Well played," he wrote, adding laughing and clapping emojis.
So where exactly did these dating rumors originate?
It all started when Travis attended Swift's Eras Tour concert in Kansas City in July. During the record-breaking tour, Swifties have made a tradition of trading friendship bracelets with witty Swift references, and Kelce hoped to join in on the fun.
On the Kelce bros' "New Heights" podcast, Travis described his plan to give Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it. But he didn't have the opportunity to meet the singer that night.
"She doesn't meet anybody, or at least she didn't want to meet me, so I took it personal," Travis said.
On the most recent "New Heights" episode, released Wednesday, the Kelces did not mention the dating rumors. The episode was recorded before Jason's 94WIP appearance, however.
For her part, Swift has remained characteristically mum on the dating rumors. She is, after all, busy preparing for the next leg of the Eras Tour, as well as gearing up to release the Eras Tour movie and "1989 (Taylor's Version)." On top of all that, Swift's fans "broke" Google on Tuesday during a puzzle game meant to unlock "vault tracks" on her upcoming album.
If the jokes and rumors are true and she is actually dating Kelce, Swift may have to adopt a Chiefs-Eagles split jersey in the style of the Kelce brothers' mom, Donna. Swift, after all, is a West Reading-native who confirmed her Eagles fandom during one of her Philly concerts in May.
NOTE: This story originally reported Jason Kelce's comments about his brother's relationship status as true, but has since been updated to indicate he was joking.
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