Women’s Fiercest Allies: The Kelce Brothers?

USA Rugby's Nicole Heavirland, Jason Kelce, USA Rugby's Ilona Maher, Taylor Swift, & Travis Kelce.

By: Kristen Warner

The biggest brothers in America, both in stature and in name recognition, are the NFL’s Jason and Travis Kelce. Despite the fact that they were both well-established NFL players at the pinnacle of their respective positions, they are most famous for their off-field activities. They were launched into the cultural zeitgeist when the younger of the two brothers, Travis, openly pined for the most successful and powerful woman on the planet, Taylor Swift. 

From his opening attempt to woo the popstar, an episode Kelce recounted on the two brothers’ podcast New Heights, he was a captivating mix of vulnerable and bashful, while still maintaining a level of confidence that is the inevitable result of NFL superstardom. On that podcast, Kelce called out Swift for snubbing his attempt at meeting her at the Eras Tour Concert in Kansas City, the home of his Chiefs. 

Despite this initial stumbling block, the two were able to eventually connect. He has since been heralded as the poster boy for manifesting your dreams and has inspired men everywhere to put in a little more effort when it comes to courtship, as his big move was to make Taylor a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it. 

Jason Kelce was gaining pop culture momentum at the same time as the leader (though physically technically the bottom) of the Philadelphia Eagle’s patented and successful “Tush Push” or “Brotherly Shove”. As the 2nd half of the popular podcasting duo, Jason offered an idol for men who didn’t identify with the more “popular pretty boy” persona that Travis brought to the table. He was a simple, genuine, and hairy guy’s guy. Between the two of them, they’ve captured the attention of and become highly influential to generations of men around the country. 

Below the surface, however, the Kelce brothers exemplify a completely new brand of man the likes of which has never possessed this level of cultural capital in America. They are two men who aren’t afraid to cry in public. They publicly support women - out loud and quietly. They say what they feel. They are respectful and empathetic of others.The buck the rigid rules of toxic masculinity in every category and yet the men who hold those ideals closest still idolize these Big Beefy Boys (term of endearment).

There are going to be those that want to downplay the impact of any broader cultural impact the Kelces are having on the state of American masculinity. I would counter those protestations by saying that I saw a man in a fully decked-out, lifted Ford Bronco (a car that is more associated with MAGA hats than friendship bracelets) wearing a Chiefs shirsey (that’s a combination of T-shirt +‎ jersey) that said “Swift 87” on it. If that’s not progress, I don’t know what is. 

Now, this is not the first male athlete to date a successful female popstar. Trinity Rodman’s dad dated Madonna. 22-year-old Andre Agassi dated a 50-year-old Barbara Streisand (a relationship the tennis star described as being like “wearing hot lava.” And of course, David Beckham married a Spice Girl. The difference between all of those relationships and the Kelce-Swift pact is that Kelce has demonstrated a level of respect for Swift’s work that surpasses anything we have seen. He speaks so highly of her talent and her work ethic that he was all too eager to don the penguin suit and join her on stage in London (with his brother and sister-in-law in attendance). She carved out time from her busy (read: highest grossing in history) global tour to support him on Sundays leading up to yet another Super Bowl Ring but he has been sure to return the favor, following her all around the globe like the true definition of a Golden Retreiver boyfriend (which is a good thing!!).

While Travis is off celebrating the biggest popstar in the world and somehow bringing added attention to her world-redefining tour, Jason is taking a much more home-spun approach to uplifting women. A certified “wife-guy” and “girl-dad,” Jason is out here demonstrating to NFL fans everywhere that being a champion for women does not need to involve dating literally the most famous person in the world. Instead, Jason exemplifies an ideal of how real men should treat their wives and their daughters without diminishing your own sense of masculinity one bit. 

After establishing his feminist bonafides at home, Jason is expanding his woman-supporting portfolio internationally. The NFL-caliber mauler popped up at the Olympics this week, attending a US Field hockey match fully beret’ed out, and, much more appropriately, showed up to support USA Rugby. The rugby fit is only natural, given that Kelce has made a career out of essentially rucking, albeit on the American Football field. Beyond simply showing up to root on his countrymates, Kelce actually stopped by the team lockerroom after the game to take pictures and get crushed in arm wrestling??? 

Whether for the best or not, the Kelce’s have an outsized influence on the state of the American sporting public, and having them in the corner of women’s sports can have a huge impact on how the average man views female athletes. Obviously, it would be ideal if those of us who are invested in the success of women’s sports didn’t have to rely on male athletes deciding to grace women’s sports with their presence. However, we have to play the cards we are dealt, and the Kelce’s are King right now in both sports and culture more broadly. Hopefully they continue to be vocal champions of women’s sports, and that the women’s sports industry is ready, able and willing to embrace them when they do. 

By the way, possibly the best part of these “Swift 87” sherseys that are floating around, sported by dads and daughters alike, is that their existence suggests one of two things: either that Taylor Swift, famously a woman, could be on an NFL roster at the tight end position, or that in what some consider a forgone conclusion, a Kelce Swift wedding, Travis takes Taylor’s last name. Both options are incredibly progressive and female forward, leaving me dreaming of a world where either of those scenarios could possibly be true. 

Now, if we can just get Taylor out to a KC Current game…