Patrick Mahomes praises Taylor Swift and says she studies football as if she’s ‘trying to become a coach’

If Coach Andy Reid ever leaves the Kansas City Chiefs, Taylor Swift may be next in line. The pop star is already close to many of the team’s players as a result of her romance with tight end Travis Kelce, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes disclosed in a recent interview that she has been studying the sport.

“I’ve met a lot of famous people now in my life,” the three-time Super Bowl champion said in his cover story for Time on Tuesday (April 16). “Taylor’s probably the most down-to-earth person that’s been on that stage for that long.”

“She’s never not working,” he added. “Even when she is taking a break, she is working on something. Creating a music video, performing a song, or creating a song. You can tell by the way she speaks. Even when she’s talking about football and understanding it, you can see her business mind working.”

Swift, in fact, had no interest in the NFL before she and Kelce became romantically involved, according to the offensive lineman on a recent episode of his New Heights podcast. What about now?

“It’s almost like she’s trying to become a coach,” Mahomes continued. “Why don’t you try this, this, and this? She’s asking the correct questions.

Swift has been an integral part of Chiefs Kingdom since last fall when she began attending games at Arrowhead Stadium to support Kelce. Between then and the 2024 Super Bowl, where she was on hand to help celebrate Kansas City’s second consecutive victory, the 14-time Grammy winner became acquainted with players including Mecole Hardman and Brittany Mahomes, the team’s star quarterback’s wife.

The superstar’s presence quantifiably increased the Chiefs’ exposure, which some critics believed became too distracting when the club hit a tough patch in the middle of the season, but Patrick told Time that his players ignored it. “[The Chiefs] went from a nationwide team that was kind of global to a full global worldwide team,” that’s what he said. “That came from Taylor’s fanbase.”

“We just embraced it,” he added. “We enjoy having that visibility. Finally, football has always been a bruising sport. We want to make it exciting for youngsters to grow up and play football while expressing their personalities and being themselves. This year has magnified that.”