NEW ORLEANS — Travis Kelce knows what to do with a microphone. Maybe Taylor Swift has been giving him tips.
If you had a question for Kelce on Monday night, he had an answer.
Kelce made a few things clear during the Opening Night of Super Bowl week. First, he knows how to command a room — and with remarkable endurance. He fielded what must have been 200 questions during his hour-long podium session at the Caesars Superdome. And he was basically unflappable, with only one question that seemed to bug him. (We'll get to that.)
It's a sign of what's to come: his genuine enjoyment of the spotlight.
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He's ascending to bigger things. He has been ever since he started dating Swift in the summer of 2023. There's a world of opportunity awaiting him when he decides he doesn't need the NFL anymore. Acting. Media. Clothes. Art. Basically whatever he wants.
That might have been what Kelce made most clear — not with his words but his actions. His superstardom isn't about sport anymore. He's a bona fide cultural icon.
And he's beginning to think about it.
"Where will I be in three years? Hopefully still playing football," the 35-year-old tight end said. "I still have a lot of good football left in me, but we'll see what happens. I know I've been setting myself up for other opportunities in my life. That's always been the goal, knowing that football only lasts for so long. You've got to find a way to get into another career, another profession. I've been doing that in my offseasons. But for the most part, I plan on being a Kansas City Chief and playing football."
The stadium speakers blared with other interviews taking place simultaneously. Fans screamed Kelce's name to get his attention — while reporters did the same. It was pure chaos.
Which NFL player should appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition?
"Leo Chenal," Kelce said. "He's built like John Cena."
Entertaining a rotating cast of reporters, Kelce sat down at his podium at 8:55 p.m. CT and barely moved until 9:55 p.m. Veteran NFL QB and FOX Sports digital correspondent Jameis Winston threw cookies at him. Comedian Guillermo Rodriguez asked him for a hug. He fielded questions from Mexican, German, Irish and British reporters — and from former NFL players Brandon Marshall and Chad Ochocinco.
"People hate the Chiefs?" Kelce asked, playfully. "I didn't know that."
He seemed at peace: calm, cool and collected.
Even at the end, when the PR officer called for the last question, Kelce answered four more.
"It's a part of the process, you know? It's a part of the beauty that is the Super Bowl," he said of all of the attention on Opening Night. "Who can weather the storm of the most hyped game of their life, and still go out there and be crowned king? So it's just a lot of fun. I appreciate everybody showing up."
[Prepare for the epic Eagles-Chiefs matchup on FOX Sports' Super Bowl LIX hub]
There's more than one reason why Kelce drew more reporters than quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The biggest reason is Swift, whom Kelce praised effusively and credited as a source of inspiration.
"I better hold up my end to the bargain, right? I mean if she's out here being the superstar she is and never taking no for an answer and always working her tail off, I better match that energy for sure," Kelce said.
Whether NFL fans like it or not, Swift belongs at the Super Bowl. (I've written about this before.) And fittingly, she pretended to throw a pass during her concert at the Superdome in 2024. It served as a prescient moment, a foreshadowing of Kelce's Super Bowl berth.
"We love to manifest things, for sure, and you can't say it's not real, because we're here, right?" Kelce said during a press availability at the stadium on Monday. "Whatever she was doing, I'm sure it helped."
There were a few things, however, that Kelce did not want to talk about. He was naturally resistant to reveal the release date for "Reputation (Taylor's Version)," Swift's upcoming album.
"Next question," he said with a smile.
At least 10 of the questions were about whether he'd propose to Swift.
You'll be shocked to hear the guy did not want to spoil his engagement.
One reporter got creative and asked if — after Kelce had secured another Super Bowl ring — he planned to give a ring to someone else.
"Anyone special? A Super Bowl ring?" Kelce smirked. "Next question."
Then the reporter got right to the point: "Are you going to propose to Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl?"
"Man, back-to-back. You guys are crazy," Kelce said.
The proposal questions, however, didn't get him as worked up as one about his favorite barbecue joint.
"I'm not a politician. I don't pick barbecue spots. You're going to get me killed," Kelce said.
There was only one question that seemed to truly irk him. He was asked which he loved more: Swift or phantom penalties late in the fourth quarter? (A reference to the conspiracy theories that the NFL and the officials favor the Chiefs.)
It was a bad-faith question intended to get a rise out of the star.
"It's a good question. Anybody else?" Kelce said.
It was the only uncomfortable question that he couldn't laugh off. This is what it's like to be a celebrity, fair or not. And Kelce's celebrity has never been bigger.
He has three Super Bowl rings. If he wins Sunday, he'll not only snag a fourth, which would tie him for most among tight ends, but the Chiefs will also get the first-ever three-peat.
"I really wanted to be known as the greatest to ever do it," Kelce said.
He's on his way.
But something tells me that Kelce's career in the NFL — and, perhaps, as the greatest tight end ever — is not where his legacy will stop.
No, when he's finished with the NFL, he'll just be getting started.
Prior to joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
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