Another NFL season is about to begin for Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs, but one former pro coach is looking back at the way the tight end performed last season – and blaming girlfriend Taylor Swift for it all. According to the Daily Mail, Eric Mangini, who once coached the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns (and now works as an NFL analyst), has a theory that Taylor may have had something to do with why Travis didn’t play as well as he usually does.
As the news outlet points out, Travis’ performance in the 2024-25 season didn’t quite measure up to the way fans have seen him play in the past. Not only did the Chiefs lose the Super Bowl to the Philadelphia Eagles, but he also recorded fewer yards in one season than ever before.
Though Eric conceded that Travis’ numbers weren’t “terrible,” they also weren’t “Travis Kelce impressive,” hinting that after spending so much time attending the Eras Tour in the offseason, Travis’ head simply wasn’t in the game the way it usually is.
“He had the relationship, we had the new TV show, he had the game show, he had the podcast, he was coming off a back-to-back short offseason. That is a lot of stuff for a guy that is that late in his career,” he said.
This time around, though, it appears things might be different.
“One of the things I am really excited about going into this season is, he has not done none of that this offseason,” Eric continued. “It looks like he is taking some time to reload, this may be his last season.”
It’s also worth pointing out that this will be Travis’ 13th season, so maybe Taylor’s lucky number will really come through for him and he can score one more big Super Bowl win before leaving the game behind entirely.
In the end, though, Travis is the only one who is responsible for his performance on the field, not Taylor, who has been a bit busy working on a career of her own, for the record.
He’ll be back in the game soon enough, and who knows? With so many retirement rumors swirling, we could see Travis bust out his best season yet so he goes out on a high note.
