A GRAND Slam-winning tennis player, commenting on a pop star watching a game of American football?
Welcome to the Super Bowl… featuring Taylor Swift.
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The pop princess was in attendance at Super Bowl 58 last night as the Kansas City Chiefs recorded a thrilling come-from-behind victory over the San Francisco 49ers in overtime, led by MVP Patrick Mahomes.
Swift, 34, is in a relationship with Mahomes’ star team mate, tight end Travis Kelce and was one of the lucky ones inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for the big game.
Two-time Wimbledon winner and 2012 US Open champion Andy Murray, 36, was one of the hundreds of millions watching at home with a new viewership record expected to be set, in part down to Swift’s presence and her legion of fans tuning in to see her and follow their idol’s boyfriend’s on-field exploits.
The previous record is 115m viewers from the Patriots-Seahawks game in 2015.
Sir Andy, like many others, noticed the spike in interest around the Super Bowl due to Swift’s relationship with Chiefs ace Kelce and the number of stories surrounding them in the build-up.
Not only that, but once the game kicked off, the Cruel Summer singer was regularly shown cheering the Chiefs on from her VIP seat on the television broadcast. Indeed, after the winning touchdown was scored, she was the FIRST person the cameras panned to – before winning head coach Andy Reid, opposite number Kyle Shanahan, or any of the Chiefs players.
Many of Swift’s fans have been championing the songstress as a ‘Super Bowl champion’ in her ‘rookie year’, given her relationship with Kelce only became public during the current NFL season and the Chiefs have gone on to enjoy success (not to mention the extra hype around the team and the NFL).
Tennis hero Murray shared similar sentiments on his Twitter (X) account – but given his propensity for dry humour and sarcasm, fans are at odds over whether he was being serious or not.
Summing up the views on many, one user wrote: “Can’t tell if this is sarcasm or if he’s a Swiftie.”
Followers of tennis will know all about Murray’s strong support of women in sport, in particular how he slapped down BBC reporter John Inverdale for overlooking the Williams sisters’ Olympic achievements in 2016.
He also continuously defend his appointment of Amelie Mauresmo as his coach openly described himself as a feminist, regularly calling out casual sexism in press conferences and speaking out in favour of equal pay.
Murray even wrote an essay on gender inequality in 2017.
On his social media post, those who reckoned it was a sly dig from the Scot were quick to compliment his sense of humour.
“Andy is now a goat to me,” said one.
“Bahaha, spot on mate,” wrote another.
“Outstanding patter from Andy,” came a third reply.
Others felt Murray was out of tune.
One observer said: “Bad post Andy.”
A second furious fan responded: “Jealously, Brittany Mahomes (Patrick Mahomes’ wife) was shown just as much tonight. Comment when you start winning something.”
A third pointed to the support Murray received from his mum Judy over the years, with her often prominent in broadcasts of the Dunblane ace’s matches.
“Calm down Andy she did nothing wrong but support her boyfriend we have had to see your mum for all these years,” came the reply.
Others simply found the post funny, or joined in with the joke.
One fan wrote: “Hahaha I was waiting her to receive the damn trophy. She appeared more than the coaches on the transmission. Geez!”
“MVP without even touching the ball,” said another.
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Offering up a different take, one user replied: “The only people who think this is bad are the ones who didn’t understand the joke. It’s a joke about how much the cameras were on Taylor Swift. Trevor Noah mentioned this at the Grammys… it’s not her fault so basically both men are saying give her a break.”
Outside of the win itself, Kelce had an eventful night on the field at Allegiant Stadium.
He finished with 92 yards on nine receptions and no touchdowns but was involved in a sideline altercation with head coach Reid.
After Isiah Pacheco fumbled on a run in the second quarter, Kelce ran towards his coach and barged into him, shouting in his face that he hadn’t been called onto the pitch for the play.
Kelce’s teammate Jerick McKinnon rushed to drag the raging star away from his coach before things got further out of hand.
The tight end said after the game: “Oh you guys saw that?
“I’m going to keep that between us unless my miked up tells the world but I was just telling him how much I love him.”
He later added: “I was fired up that we weren’t hitting on all cylinders.”
Kelce was seen looking repentant later in the game but not before fans on social media had a go at him over his aggressiveness, calling him out for being a “diva”.
One wrote: “Kelce blowing up at and actually crashing into coach Reid! That’s disgraceful! What a diva! Where does he get that from?”
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Another said: “Seems like Andy Reid was stunned that Kelce would even do this. Jerick McKinnon with the heads up move to get Kelce out of there.”
A third gasped: “He should get benched for this.”
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