Andy Reid Credits Taylor Swift After Travis Kelce's Big Night Against Colts

Travis Kelce put up nine catches for 101 yards and a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts on September 20, and the numbers did all the talking. But it was what his head coach said after the game that got people paying attention. Andy Reid, never one to shy away from a straight answer, suggested that Kelce's wife, Taylor Swift, may actually deserve a slice of the credit for how sharp his tight end looked on opening night at Arrowhead Stadium.

Did Travis Kelce's marriage to Taylor Swift actually hurt his offseason preparation?

Apparently not. Going into training camp, there was real chatter about whether Kelce had stayed dialed in through the wedding, the honeymoon, the whirlwind that comes with being arguably the most famous couple in the world right now. Reid addressed it without sugarcoating anything.

"Everybody questioned with the wedding and all that, would he be out of shape and honeymooning the whole time and all that," Reid said at a media session on September 21. "But he works his rear end off. And I think Taylor, (she is) putting on four hour shows, you've got to work hard, too. So I'm sure she kicks him in the butt a little bit there, too."

That is about as candid as a head coach gets. Reid was not spinning it or playing PR. He genuinely seemed to believe that Swift's own punishing work schedule had rubbed off on Kelce in some way. And given that Kelce himself told ESPN's Scott Van Pelt that his goal heading into this season was to get "in the best shape of my life," it is hard to dismiss Reid's read as just a nice thing to say.

"I can't say enough about the support system and the people that I have around me and just the ability to focus on the goal at hand," Kelce said after the win.

How well does Taylor Swift actually understand football now?

Pretty well, if Kelce is to be believed. On a recent episode of the "New Heights" podcast, Kelce talked about just how much Swift has learned about the game since she first started showing up to Chiefs games back in 2023. The change, by his account, has been dramatic.

"Now she knows everything," Kelce said. "She sees the flags coming in, like, 'Oh, that might be a defensive hold.' [I'm] like, 'What'd you say, sweetie?' She's like, 'That's encroachment.' I'm like, 'You know what that is?'"

He added: "She's on it now. She was fully engulfed in it."

There is something quietly telling about all of this. Kelce is not just talking about a supportive partner who shows up and smiles for cameras. He is describing someone who has genuinely invested herself in understanding his world. Whether that translates into a competitive edge on the field is impossible to measure, but Reid seemed fairly certain it is not hurting anything.

With the Chiefs looking to go deep into the playoffs again, a focused Kelce is exactly what Kansas City needs.