Al Michaels had to walk quite the tightrope when including Taylor Swift in “Thursday Night Football’s” coverage.
During an appearance Monday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” the longtime sportscaster, 78, opened up about how the “TNF” team wanted to approach Swift’s appearance at last week’s Chiefs-Broncos game — the third contest she attended in support of rumored boyfriend Travis Kelce amid an ongoing media frenzy.
“We had to be judicious,” Michaels said. “We knew she’d be there, so, how much do you show her? She’d been on twice, and football fans were going, ‘Enough.’”
Although Michaels joked about a potential Swift cameo in the booth — “We were praying she’d come into the booth and sing for us” — he had to navigate a particular way to call out her presence.
“I had to acknowledge it, but what do you do? You can’t fool around, otherwise people will say that sounds hokey and the whole thing. We had a shot of her and I didn’t know how to describe her,” Michaels said.
Michaels referred to Swift as Kelce’s “good buddy and girlfriend” on Thursday’s broadcast, to which Kimmel told the analyst on Monday, it “can’t be both.”
“You know what I really wanted to say?” Michaels said. “Fiancée.”
Rumors of a potential romance between Swift, 33, and Kelce, 34, first emerged in September, when it was reported they had been “quietly hanging out.”
That same month, Swift attended the Chiefs’ Week 3 win over the Bears — an appearance that wrecked the internet.
Swift and Kelce showed some PDA over the weekend when they were photographed holding hands in New York.
The pair also made surprise appearances on the Season 49 premiere of “Saturday Night Live,” where Kelce poked fun at the NFL’s obsession with his personal life.
Swift and Kelce then popped by the “SNL” afterparty at Catch Steak, where they were seen “kissing throughout the night,” according to Page Six.
With a game against the Chargers on deck for Kelce, it remains to be seen if Swift will be part of the Arrowhead Stadium crowd once again.
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