Opinion: Why Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift inspire hope for fans

Taylor Swift’s first public appearance with her rumoured new flame – NFL superstar Travis Kelce – has sent fans into meltdown. Here’s why women are supporting the man in the football helmet.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - SEPTEMBER 24: Taylor Swift reacts during a game between the Chicago Bears and the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on September 24, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)

It doesn’t take much to send Taylor Swift’s devoted fans into outer space – but her first public appearance with her rumoured new flame has sparked worldwide excitment for more reasons than one.

The biggest artist in the entire world only needs to walk out of a building to incite hysteria – so her possible new romance with NFL superstar Travis Kelce has frankly smashed the excitement scale.

Part of the uproar is because fans love to see ‘Mother’ happy – but it’s also because Kelce’s silky smooth game inspires hope that a woman can be courted by a man who celebrates her success and everything that makes her who she is.

A fan Taylor swift holds u a sign during a game between the Chicago Bears and the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on September 24, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. Jason Hanna/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Jason Hanna / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The story started when Swift’s fanbase started making friendship bracelets – inspired by her recent track You’re On Your Own Kid – to wear and swap during her international Eras tour.

Enter Travis Kelce – two-time NFL Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs tight end, who announced on his podcast in July that he had hoped to slip Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it.

The effort was then unsuccessful – but within weeks gossip pages were speculating the superstar duo might be “hanging out”.

Fast forward to September 24 and social media is in full-blown meltdown because a Chiefs jersey-clad Taylor Swift is in the box in Kansas City with Kelce’s mother and jumping for joy when he nails a touchdown as his team drubs the Chicago Bears.

Post-match video shows them leaving the venue together and departing in his (getaway) car – fanning a full-blown fanbase freakout.

Taylor Swift accept the Video of the Year award for "Anti-Hero" onstage during the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for MTV)

Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs (Photo by Jason Hanna / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

So, why are fans rooting so hard for Kelce?

Women want to believe a man might actually execute the perfect grand gesture because he is that committed to connecting with them.

Women really want to believe they can find a man in his 30s with a career, family values, his creative pursuits and the maturity to meaningfully pursue a relationship.

This is harder than it looks.

Just ask any woman confronted with a litany of men on dating apps demanding them not to be vegan, to work out more and to tolerate being roasted on a regular basis.

More than anything, women want to believe there is a man out there who wants them exactly as they are - especially when they’re successful.

Rumours have abounded about how some of Swift’s previous partners were cowed by her unparalleled success – her record-breaking music and tours, the awards, the red carpets, the fame and acclaim.

Here is a man who is unfazed by a woman on top of her game – on top of the world – and wants to celebrate everything that she is and has achieved instead of tamping it down.

And women want a man who isn’t going to put her in a box, ask her to calm down about her success, or be intimidated by her power and achievements.

This is, really, the goal – or should I say, the touchdown.