Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, who recently got engaged, started dating in the summer of 2023, which caused a stir amongst dedicated fans of the Grammy-winner and the NFL alike. Kansas City Chief’s president, Mark Donavan, opened up about the promise he made to Kelce in the early days of their relationship.
Swift & Kelce’s Relationship
Swift and Kelce were dating for two years before getting engaged.
The pair met after Kelce revealed that he tried to give Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it at one of her concerts on The Eras Tour, but he was unsuccessful.
“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,” said Kelce to his brother Jason Kelce, his podcast co-host.
Still, Kelce declared his interest in the singer on his “New Heights” podcast in July 2023, and they started dating soon after.
In September 2023, Swift made a surprise appearance at Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs game. She was seen watching the game from Kelce’s suite with his mother Donna.
Kelce addressed Swift’s appearance at his game during a podcast episode on September 27. “I’m enjoying life and I sure as hell enjoyed this weekend,” he said. “Shout out to Taylor for pulling up. That was pretty ballsy.”
Kelce continued, “I just thought it was awesome how everybody in the suite had nothing but great things to say about her — the friends and family. She looked amazing and everybody was talking about her in great light.”
On October 1, Swift attended one of Kelce’s games as his team faced off against the New York Jets. The singer brought along a handful of her celebrity friends for the game.
In November 2023, Kelce was seen dancing and singing along at one of Swift’s shows on The Eras Tour with the singer’s dad. During the show, Swift gave Kelce a shout-out as she changed the lyrics of her final song “Karma” to “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me.”
After the Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens during the AFC Championship Game and secured their spot in the Super Bowl in January 2024, Swift joined Kelce on the field to celebrate. She also supported him at the Super Bowl in February.
In June 2024, the couple went Instagram official, and Kelce also joined Swift on stage during one of her Eras Tour shows.
A year later in June 2025, the pair made their red carpet debut together.
“I owe a lot to this podcast. This podcast got me a boyfriend ever since Travis decided to use it as his personal dating app about two years ago,” Swift said during her August 13 appearance on New Heights.
On August 26, 2025, Swift and Kelce announced they were engaged in a joint Instagram post.
“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” Swift captioned the post.
Donavan‘s Promise to Kelce
“I told Travis, ‘Look, we are going to treat you and your relationship with the same respect that we treat any other player or coach’s relationship,’” Mark said on the Up and Adams Show December 1, where he opened up about the promise he made to Kelce. “It’s a relationship. We’re not going to monetize it. We’re not going to go out there and go crazy.”
Donavan praised the Arrowhead Stadium staff for keeping Kelce and Swift’s romance low-key, while other broadcasts made a point to continuously show shots of the singer during games.
“For a couple of years, all those shots you see of Taylor in the stadium—he scores a touchdown, he makes a catch, it goes to Taylor, especially the first year.” Mark explained. “We never showed Taylor on our big boards in our stadium, never. It was respectful. We’re not going to do that.”
“We’re not taking advantage of this relationship,” he emphasized, even going on to joke that they “never played a Taylor Swift song in the stadium” when she was in the building.
“Travis, to his credit, is all about team and he’s all about the guys and he’s all about being part of a team and not being separate,” Mark continued. “And he said, ‘That separates me… When we’re playing a game. When we’re in that stadium, it’s about us. And I want it to be about us,’”
“Taylor’s been amazing to us,” Mark concluded, referring to Swift’s mutual respect for Kelce’s team. “It’s been nothing but good. She is a phenomenon. She is just a special kind of person.”
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That is the way it should be for not exposing her there but sometimes I just feel that the Kansas City Chiefs are not doing well this year. I hope it’s not because of Travis finding his soulmate and that I feel that the Chiefs are feeling some stardust in them! I have always been a fan of Kansas City when Mahomes was the starting quarterback and he really has a very good talent.