Travis Kelce says Taylor Swift inspired him to continue playing for Chiefs

NFL star Travis Kelce has said his fiancee, singer Taylor Swift, inspired him to continue to play after considering retirement.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 36, said on Tuesday that Swift’s joy for her music inspired him to stay on with his team.

It comes after he publicly considered leaving the NFL team and was a free agent before agreeing to resign a contract with the Chiefs on Monday.

Speaking on the Pat McAfee show, Kelce said: “We share the same love for what we do, and fortunately we’ve had this desire since we were kids in our selective professions.

“It’s amazing to see her keep going to the table, keep finding new things to write about, keep finding new melodies and, on top of that, still seeing her have that love and joy in what she does.

“Of course that’s motivating. That’s motivating for anybody to see, let alone my fiancee, knowing that I’m going through something where I’m trying to figure out exactly what the future holds for me.

“Something like that definitely motivates me to say, ‘You know what, I’m not done, either’. I’ve still got some ideas in the back of my mind and still got some juice left to play this game.”

Kelce, who has won three Super Bowls with the Chiefs, first joined the team in 2013.

The pair made global headlines in August after announcing their engagement in a joint Instagram post which read: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”

Swift sang about the NFL star in her UK number one album, The Life Of A Showgirl, including on her song Opalite which references his birth stone, opal.

The track climbed the UK charts and became Swift’s sixth number one single earlier this year after the singer released an accompanying star-studded music video which featured actor Cillian Murphy, singer Lewis Capaldi, TV presenter Graham Norton, About Time star Domhnall Gleeson and actresses Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith.

The record has since been named the best-selling album globally in 2025 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).