There’s NFL fame, and then there’s Taylor Swift fame. Travis Kelce is finding out about the latter now.
The Chiefs tight end, 34, has been a constant focus of the paparazzi as his relationship with Swift, 33, has garnered an avalanche of headlines this season.
Jason Kelce, who is a star center for the Eagles, told NBC Sports’ Peter King how younger brother Travis is dealing with the added attention.
“It’s certainly been weird, the level that it is now,” Jason, 35, said. “On one hand, I’m happy for my brother that he seems to be in a relationship that he’s excited about, that he is genuine about. But there’s another end of it where it’s like, ‘Man, this is a lot.’”
That included breathtaking coverage of Travis filling up his gas tank after photos of the mundane occurrence surfaced on Saturday.
“There’s paparazzi talking about him fueling his car before the game today and I’m like, ‘Is that really necessary information to share?’” Jason said.
“This is another level of stardom that typically football players don’t deal with. And so on one hand, really, really happy for my brother and where he’s at in his current situation with Taylor but on the other hand, there’s some, I think, alarms sometimes with how you know, over-in-pursuit people can be.”
Travis has talked openly about the paparazzi’s intrusion in his life since he began seeing Swift in early September.
“I’ve noticed a few things, paparazzi outside my house, s–t like that, for sure. One hundred percent and they all have British accents too, or something European,” Travis said on Sept. 27 during his “New Heights” podcast, which he co-hosts with Jason.
Swift has been at four of the past five Chiefs games, hanging with Travis’ mom, Donna, and Patrick Mahomes’ wife, Brittany.
After she attended a Week 6 Thursday night win over the Broncos, Swift and Kelce spent the weekend in New York City, going out to dinner and making “Saturday Night Live” cameos with cameras following them throughout.
Swift was also in attendance on Sunday when the Chiefs beat the Chargers, 31-17, with Kelce pulling in 12 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown.
The two celebrated the victory back at Kelce’s Kansas City mansion, traveling in his Rolls Royce, which thankfully had a full of tank gas.
“Overall, he can deal with some of this. As long as it’s not, you know, becoming a threat to his safety and things like that,” Jason said.
The Chiefs take on the Broncos again on Sunday — this time in Denver — at 4:25 pm.
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