Jason Kelce Says Travis Enjoyed NFL Off-Seasons ‘Before Taylor Swift’

Jason Kelce acknowledged Travis Kelce’s “slow” start in the new NFL season — and predicted that his brother will return to form soon despite all that he’s juggling off the field these days.

“I know it’s been a slow start for him. I know that the optics have certainly appeared that way,” Jason, 36, told ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown on Monday, October 7, adding, “Trav is always gonna find a way to show up and show out. I think it’s only a matter of time before he gets back to the Travis Kelce you’ve seen.”

Travis, 34, and the Kansas City Chiefs took on the New Orleans Saints at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Monday. Chiefs fans have observed a decline in Travis’ performance since the tight end took his team to a Super Bowl victory earlier this year. 

When asked about chatter that Travis is too busy “enjoying his life” and not as “focused on the game,” Jason replied, “Listen, he’s been very healthy throughout his career. This is a guy who’s always found a way to show up in the peak physical shape. And, I know, optics are that he is all over the place. And that’s not just optics. That’s reality. But he still keeps the main thing the main thing.”

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He continued, “Football has always been the most important thing in Trav’s life. He has always lived his life to the fullest. He has enjoyed his off-season very much — even before Taylor Swift and anything else that’s been going on in our lives. And I think that he is always gonna find a way to make football the No. 1 priority in terms of being prepared.”

Besides football — and his romance with Swift, 34, which began in summer 2023 — Travis made his acting debut in Ryan Murphy’s FX series Grotesquerie earlier this month and started a stint hosting the game show Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? on Prime Video.  

Despite speculation that there was trouble in paradise for the couple after Swift was absent from two consecutive Chiefs games this season, a source exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month that “nothing has changed” for them.

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“They’re spending as much time together as possible while balancing their careers and individual responsibilities — his game and her music empire, along with personal projects,” the insider noted, adding, “They’re choosing not to dwell on the noise, focusing instead on staying true to themselves and being happy,” the source said. “They simply shrug off the stories. They see it as just another example of the press lifting someone up only to tear them down.”

Swift further proved the rumors wrong when she showed up to support her boyfriend on Monday, sporting an Evermore plaid dress — which matched his own pregame outfit — signature red lipstick and sparkly freckles across her face. Her dad, Scott Swift, was also in attendance, rocking a bright red shirt in honor of the Chiefs.