What you need to know about Travis Kelce and his romantic history

Originally appeared on E! Online

Where were you when you first found out Taylor Swift was sitting with Travis Kelce's mom at the Kansas City Chiefs game on Sept. 24?

Because when it comes to capital-M Moments, there is a before and there is an after, and the era of Kelce shooting his shot with Swift is now upon us.

This is still very early stages, of course, with a color-coordinated outfit (loving him would be red and gold), a ride in a Chevelle and a cozy draped arm doing a lot of heavy lifting in the potential-romance department. But if it was all leading up to this, we are ready for it.

And naturally, the Swifties brought receipts.

For instance, Swift's "Cornelia Street," off of 2019's Lover: "We were a fresh page on the desk / Filling in the blanks as we go / As if the street lights pointed in an arrowhead / Leading us home." The track was inspired by then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn (hence the pilgrimages to that New York address after their breakup) but it's now nothing less than psychic sorcery because the Chiefs play at Arrowhead Stadium and that's where Swift dipped chicken tenders into "seemingly ranch."

Before your mind gets too boggled, though, remember that it's Kelce who's been doing the more blatant manifesting on his end.

While he only recently revealed his thwarted plan to give Swift a friendship bracelet sporting his number when he attended her Eras Tour in Kansas City, he picked her as his kiss recipient all the way back in 2016 when the "Kiss, Marry, Kill" question was posed to him by AfterBuzzTV. At the time, he was looking for Ms. Right on E!'s Catching Kelce and was barely three years into what is now his two-time Super Bowl-winning, "Saturday Night Live"-hosting career.

The 33-year-old tight end has been busily building his resume since then, on and off the field. And we're only cryptic and Machiavellian 'cause we care. So to distinguish folklore from truth, here's a handy guide to who Travis Kelce is and what he's been up to before touching down at the center of the Swiftie universe:

He's a Family Man

Nothing beats the playful but protective bond between Travis Kelce and his big brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce. Mom Donna Kelce and dad Ed Kelce are long divorced but the whole family is close and the parents systematically "divide and conquer," Ed told the Los Angeles Times, so at least one of them is at each of their sons' games.

Travis Kelce is also the "perfect uncle," according to Jason Kelce, 35, who shares daughters Wyatt, turning 4 on Oct. 2, Elliotte, 2, and Bennett, 7 months, with his wife of five years, Kylie Kelce.

"My daughters, they're so drawn to him immediately—partly because he's gorgeous," Jason Kelce quipped to E! News at the premiere of the Prime Video documentary "Kelce," "but then also he's just a fun human being. He's exciting. He has energy for days."

Though Travis Kelce's eldest niece might still need some convincing. In an adorable video Jason Kelce shared, Wyatt Kelce heatedly informs her uncle he is not allowed to have pink hair because, she tells him emphatically, "You're naughty and you're sneaky!" Sigh, but at least Travis Kelce may be able to win over Bennett, the moment he first held her captured for posterity in "Kelce."

Travis Learned From His Timeouts

Travis Kelce has cited two "humbling" experiences from his past that made him realize there were more important things than just having a good time.

Growing up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Travis Kelce was booted from his high school football team after failing French, so he missed playing with Jason Kelce during his brother's senior year. And "even more embarrassing, when it means more," Travis Kelce recalled on the Jan. 10 episode of "The Pivot" podcast, the same thing happened at the University of Cincinnati when he was suspended for the entire 2010 season after testing positive for marijuana.

He felt like he'd embarrassed not just his family, but the whole community who'd supported him, he explained. So when it was time to work his way back onto the team (and switch from quarterback to tight end), "I had guidelines I had to go through," he recalled, "and it created routine and structure in my life that I hadn't taken serious up until that point. Once I found that routine, I began to use that in every aspect of my life."

Jason Kelce Has His Brother's Back

Travis Kelce made a triumphant return for the Bearcats and was named Tight End of the Year at the College Football Performance Awards after the 2012 season. But, despite thinking he'd be a high pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, he didn't get the call until the third round.

Ultimately it was Jason Kelce who put in a good word with incoming Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who'd worked with the elder Kelce brother on the Eagles and was willing to take a chance on the reputationally challenged Travis Kelce.

Knowing his sibling—who also let him move in when he lost his scholarship—vouched for him both in college and the NFL, Travis Kelce reflected to Vanity Fair this year, "I'm forever in debt to this guy for putting his name, our name, putting his honor on the line to get me another chance. When I say I owe it all to him, I really do."

Though they can all laugh about it now, Travis Kelce joking in his "SNL" monologue, "Just goes to show you, if you're bad at school and smoke weed, you can win the Super Bowl twice."

He's Got Big Post-Football Plans

Hosting "SNL" was a dream come true for Travis Kelce—who said at the very least he plans to play through his current contract, which ends in 2025—but he's only getting started when it comes to the wider world of non-sports entertainment. In addition to hosting the "New Heights" podcast with Jason Kelce and keeping his comedic chops sharp in commercials for State Farm and Campbell's Soup, he signed with Creative Artists Agency and has let it be known he's up for... well, we shall see.

"I don't know if what I want to do has really been done yet," he told Vanity Fair.

Sports broadcasting could certainly be in his future, Travis Kelce noting, "I could sit there, talk football, and make it relatable. I could get into the scheme of things. I could make it make sense to the people who are just now getting into it. And I could bring the juice."

The Kelces Aren't Matchmakers

Suffice it to say, Travis Kelce has a lot of people invested in his long-term happiness, but they've stayed out of his private life. Unless they're joking about it.

"Kylie infamously fell in love with me on Tinder, so maybe she can give you some tips," Jason Kelce teased Travis Kelce on the Sept. 6 episode of "New Heights." Asked if she preferred mustache or no 'stache for his profile pic, Kylie Kelce advised her brother-in-law to keep his current facial hair, because "if they'd swipe right at your worst, then they'll love you at your best."

To which Travis Kelce replied, "That doesn't even hurt my feelings, this is smart. It's genius."

Who Caught Kelce?

Travis Kelce's "Catching Kelce" journey started with 50 potential love interests, one woman from each state. He dated his ultimate pick, Maya Benberry of Kentucky, for a few months.

"She's an absolutely wonderful girl," Travis Kelce told E! News of his then-secret girlfriend ahead of the series' premiere in October 2016. It was tough having to keep the outcome a secret, he said, but "I wouldn't have picked her if I didn't feel a certain way about her."

And yet he admitted he wasn't in a rush for the end zone. "I have always been the just let it roll [type]," he explained, "and take advantage of the opportunities when they come about. I've always been a very success-driven person, too, so I'm very focused on trying to get my career somewhere. That and I'm still getting to know her and, to be honest, marriage is a huge step that it takes a while to get to know you're ready for."

Benberry said when all was revealed, "I just feel like the luckiest girl in the world. For that to be my man, and he's really my man now, it's just amazing that my dream guy is now mine!"

But the life coach and brand consultant isn't exactly rooting for Travis Kelce these days, telling DailyMail.com after Taylor Swift's cameo at his game, "Taylor seems like such a fun girl with a beautiful spirit so I wish her the best of luck but I wouldn't be a girls' girl if I didn't advise her to be smart! I'm sure by now she has mastered the ability to see who is really there for her—and who is just using her."

A Longer Run

Travis Kelce said recently on "New Heights" that "DMs can work every now and then" when it comes to meeting people, and he spoke from experience.

He made his presence known on influencer Kayla Nicole's Instagram in 2017, liking her photos and clicking through her Instagram Story. "I didn't just go through every single pic and just start liking it immediately," he assured E! News in February 2022. But she noticed him noticing her, Travis Kelce continued, "and then finally on New Year's, she gave in. And, you know, New Year, new me. She just shot her shot, jumped in my DMs and the rest is history."

Nicole was Travis Kelce's date to teammate Patrick Mahomes' March 12, 2022, wedding in Hawaii, but their relationship ended later that year.

"I'm in the free market right now," Travis Kelce said—regarding his personal life, because with pro athletes, one should specify—on "The Pivot" in January. "I'm out there just enjoying life, focused on my profession."

A Swift Recovery

Which brings us to Sept. 24, 2023, the latest step in the previously one-sided dance Travis Kelce had been doing for months.

With the Travilor (you're welcome) narrative already spiraling wildly out of hand, he said on "The Pat McAfee Show" Sept. 20 that he had invited Swift to come watch him play—seeing as he'd already watched her play.

"So, we'll see what happens in the near future," Travis Kelce said, adding that the ball was "in her court," metaphors flying every which way. 

Four days later, Swift—a professed Eagles fan—wore a Chiefs windbreaker and matching New Balance kicks and looked perfectly comfortable hanging out with Donna Kelce, so much so she uttered the "Let's f------ go!" deciphered 'round the world. Her condiment of choice is being bottled and sold, and Monday-morning quarterbacks have already mapped out Swift and Kelce's dueling schedules for the next six months.

So Is It Gonna Be Forever?

The pair were seen getting into Travis' 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle convertible at the stadium after the game and literally driving into the sunset. Romeo didn't take her somewhere they could be alone, but he saved a seat for her at the after-party.

Yet while you should definitely bet on the entire NFL's pun returns to reach record highs this season, don't expect to get much dirt from Team Kelce.

In a Sept. 20 radio interview, Jason Kelce said he thought the rumors Travis Kelce and Swift were dating were "100% true," but he was 99% joking ("The guy is absolutely ridiculous," Travis Kelce said on "The Pat McAfee Show," "please everybody stop asking my brother!"). And Mahomes said after the Sept. 24 game that he wasn't even sure if Travis Kelce was serious when he casually mentioned that Swift was going to be there. 

"He told me at, like, the last minute," the Chiefs quarterback told reporters. "There are some things with Trav where he kind of just says it and you don't know if it's true or not."

A few days after it turned out to be true, Mahomes called Swift "really cool, good people," speaking to reporters at the team facility. "But like Trav said, man, I'm going to let them have their privacy and just keep it moving."

Chief Concerns

"Nobody does anything crazy to get my attention as far as guys," Swift lamented in a 2012 Extra interview (thank you, TikTokers, for the resurrection). "Like, I can't remember so I guess there hasn't been anything. Which is good, so it's easier, the bar is set really low for anyone I date in the future to come in and be, like, a great guy. I'll be like, 'Oh, you exist? This is so crazy!'"

Coincidentally, that's what many Swifties had to say about Travis Kelce, the rumored coupling triggering a debate between those convinced that Kelce put the eight-time Pro Bowl pick on the map and those who pay attention to football. 

But now we know what becomes of curious minds.

During the "No Dumb Questions" segment of the Sept. 27 episode of "New Heights," which currently has 2 million views on YouTube, Jason and Travis Kelce received a few more rudimentary inquiries than usual, such as "What's a field goal?" from @ISaidSpeakNow and, per @TheMadWomanIsMe, "Do you throw the ball or run with it?"

"I did this to myself, Jason," Travis Kelce acknowledged, referring to allll of it, from the paparazzi outside his house to the slo-mo replays of the action inside the visitors' suite. "I know this."