Tony Dungy, Steve Young Claim Taylor Swift's Presence Had Negative Effects On The NFL, Chiefs

Two NFL legends - Tony Dungy and Steve Young - have a bit of bad blood with Taylor Swift’s influence on the NFL.

Dungy spoke with Fox News’ Raymond Arroyo at Thursday’s Hall of Fame banquet before the 78th Hula Bowl in Orlando, a college football All-Star game. Arroyo asked the former Bucs and Colts coach about how he views the current state of the NFL. The Hall-of-Famer said that he believes the “Taylor Swift effect” negatively impacted the league’s relationship with viewers.

"That’s the thing that’s disenchanting people with sports now," Dungy said. "There’s so much on the outside coming in. Entertainment value and different things. Taking away from what really happens on the field."

Tony Dungy thinks the NFL's coverage of Taylor Swift has disillusioned NFL fans. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)

Dungy spoke on behalf of a lot of American football fans. Because Swift dates Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, the NFL pounced on the opportunity to cover her presence at any game she attended. Roughly three weeks into this love story between the two celebrities, fans started to get tired of all the attention the league gave her - not that she cared.

On the flip side, the NFL did experience incredible viewership numbers this season by a variety of standards. So you could say that the NFL didn’t significantly alienate its base with all the Swift coverage.

Even so, he correctly indicated that lots of people had enough of Taylor Swift soon after the season began.

Steve Young Agrees With Tony Dungy

Another Hall-of-Famer believes that Swift’s influence in Kansas City negatively affected the Chiefs more than it did the NFL’s fan base. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young said that when news broke of the couple’s relationship, he worried the most for quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

"It's the biggest thing that's ever happened to football, from the outside,” Young said via Bleacher Report. “When it happened, I felt bad for Patrick."

Perhaps Young was worried that her presence could affect Kelce’s production, since he’s Mahomes’ top target. Fortunately, the tight end was the only reliable target all season for the Chiefs, since other receivers focused more on dropping balls and lining up offsides than doing their job well.

Steve Young worried about the impact Swift's presence could have on the Chiefs. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

But Young still believes that Swift’s presence certainly put mental “weight” on the team, especially as the hype of their relationship got bigger.

"It's this thing. When you have an outside force, it puts this weight on everyone. They don't feel it necessarily, but if you step back, it's like, holy hell,” Young said. “You've got this thing you're dragging around. Everyone has to manage it. Anyone who says it's not part of it is lying to themselves."

For the most part, Kansas City seems to have handled it well. They won the division and crushed the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Wild Card round. 

But depending on how long the Chiefs’ postseason run lasts, fans might still find a way to make Swift the anti-hero.