Kelce Brothers Are Overplaying Their Taylor Swift-Induced Fame | Lexie Rigden
It went a little something like this: Taylor Swift starts dating Travis Kelce.
The media goes crazy.
It starts frantically covering the entire Kelce family, making the two brothers, Jason and Travis, near household names. Pre-Taylor, both brothers had some level of fame, but nothing like this.
Taylor Swift kisses Travis Kelce after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl. Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
I, for one, am sick of hearing about the Kelce brothers. It’s a "Love Story", and the brothers are having it with the media, running 100 yards with the Taylor Swift football. When a Kelce speaks, the media fawns. When the media fawns, the Kelces do it bigger.
The cycle has no end in sight.
This week gave us perhaps the most egregious example of Kelce mania and the brothers’ insatiable need for publicity.
Taylor Swift Created This Monster
On March 4, 2024, Jason Kelce announced his retirement from football. He didn’t just release a statement or post on social media. In the grand tradition of the Kelce brothers, no strangers to over-the-top displays (Viva Las Vegas, anyone?), Kelce gave a 40-minute-long speech at his press conference.
He talked about everything—from his brother to his wife, to his children, to his teammates, to his coaches, to his highs, to his lows, complete with what many are speculating were well-placed Taylor Swift lyrics. Oh, and tears. Lots of tears. A self-centered, center.
As the kids say, it was so extra.
Jason Kelce has leaned in hard to his newfound stardom, which, despite 13 solid years in the NFL, is due squarely to his association with the most famous woman on the planet.
Pre-Taylor, only the most dedicated Eagles fan would have cared about Kelce’s retirement, much less watched the press conference. Post-Taylor, the media praise heaped on his retirement speech was borderline nauseating in its breathlessness (and agenda pushing).
The Today Show had no fewer than 9 Instagram posts about the speech, with captions about how "refreshing it was to see men be emotional".
Travis Kelce cries during his brothers Jason's 40 minute retirement speech. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Other media outlets, and major ones at that, were just as quick to gush, especially about all the Kelce tears.
The New York Times proclaimed that Kelce "normalized crying". USA Today said that Jason and Travis crying at the event was a "good thing."
Countless other outlets—People Magazine, Entertainment Tonight, Us Weekly—covered Kelce’s speech like it was Lou Gehrig’s farewell to baseball.
The Jason Kelce saturation had a decidedly patronizing tone, reminding us that it is ok for men to cry, as though the public is too dumb or pigheaded to realize that.
The Hype Has To Stop
More than trying to turn Jason’s speech into a teaching moment, the media wants us to believe it cares about Jason or Travis Kelce in their own right, other than as satellites orbiting Taylor Swift. But we, the Outkick faithful, know better.
The Kelces have bought into their own hype and the associated spoils.
Last year at this time, would Jason Kelce have chosen to announce his retirement as though he was abdicating a throne? He simply did not have to put on such a self-involved display. Other more famous retiring athletes have gone out with far less fanfare.
For example, Tom Brady, the best quarterback to play the game, announced (both of) his retirements online, with either a written statement (the first time), or a minute long video (the second time).
Andrew Whitworth, a top left tackle who retired after 16 seasons and won 2021’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award, announced his retirement in a short Instagram video.
I could go on, but then reading this article may take as long as listening to Jason’s speech.
As long as Travis and Taylor are the pop culture couple, the Kelces will continue their media domination, capitalizing on the public’s apparently insatiable need for Taylor Swift-related coverage.
The endless fascination with all things Kelce (including their parents and even Jason’s wife) has nothing to do with football and everything to do with Taylor Swift.
The media’s obsession with the Kelces, and their obsession with themselves, is just getting old. Much like the COVID-19 vaccine Travis Kelce got roasted for promoting, I wish there were an antidote to my Kelce brothers fatigue.