Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift were criticized for their decorum during the championship match of the Men’s Singles Draw at the U.S. Open on Sunday even though they were just having fun as people who exist in society. The fun-hating pessimists were quick to jump all over the world’s most-scrutinized celebrity couple for disrespecting the prestigious sport of tennis and its many unspoken behavioral rules.
Kelce could not care less!
Kansas City played its game against Baltimore on Thursday so the Chiefs’ weekend was wide open while the rest of the NFL played their 2024 season-openers. With Sunday as an off day, Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes flew out to New York City to watch Taylor Fritz battle with Jannick Sinner on the hard court in Queens. Their significant others, Brittany Mahomes and Swift, joined them there.
Kelce’s Gucci outfit was one topic of discussion.
As was the positioning of his iPhone, which leaned up against his drink throughout the afternoon.
Viewers at home assumed he was watching football. As revealed on the latest episode of the ‘New Heights’ podcast, they were correct. He had a quadbox pulled up on his phone.
When you get something like NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV, you can watch any game that you want. You can actually watch up to four games at once […]
It’s the first Sunday of the NFL season. You think I was going to miss a one o’clock start??
I think the match started at two o’clock so these games were right in the second quarter… it was prime time for any NFL fan and I’ve always been a fan first.
— Travis Kelce
Kelce made it abundantly clear that he did not have the volume on. That would be disrespectful to the tennis environment. It was muted.
Did Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift have too much fun?
Even though Kelce was certain to respect his surroundings, he and Swift still managed to draw criticism for what the haters deemed a “cringeworthy” performance of the song ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love.’ Faultfinders believe that their whole song and dance was exactly that— an act for the cameras.
Swift also drew criticism for dancing on Kelce to Bad Bunny’s song ‘Tití Me Preguntó.’
I can’t they’re actually adorable #tayvis #taylorswift #traviskelce pic.twitter.com/mMu1wLXdoe
— Taysfavs02 (@taysfavs02) September 8, 2024
Tennis fans were abhorred by their behavior. How dare they have fun and enjoy a few libations at a sporting event?! Do they not know that tennis is a sport played with class?!
Fans must sit completely still and only show excitement through light clapping after a point is complete. They cannot dance to extremely loud music that plays during a set break. They cannot sing along to a smash hit. Watching football on a phone during a match is disrespectful.
All of those things are unacceptable, even though Kelce paid a lot of money to do and act what/how he wanted in a suite alongside his girlfriend and his best friends. People were actually that mad.
Believe it or not, Kelce is aware of the unspoken rules and operated well within the lines. In fact, if he had it his way, his behavior would’ve bordered on unruly!
[The tennis match was] very quiet and you know us, when it’s very quiet, we want to say something.
I’m not a quiet person, never been a quiet person. I’ve always been the kid at the back of the class when it gets quiet, like say something smart or say something funny or at least try and get a rise out of people.
So the entire time I wanted to heckle the Italian, Sinner, the number one player in the world.
— Travis Kelce
Even though Kelce wanted to get on Sinner in support of Fritz, he refrained.
I played it cool, I played it respectful, knowing that’s kind of frowned upon. I’m sure if I started heckling like the guy did in Happy Gilmore […] if it had gotten to that point, I’m sure I would’ve been asked to leave.
— Travis Kelce
Kelce went on to say that he dressed and acted the part. He was “very quiet except for during intermissions when they were playing music.” That was the only time he was “really showing his personality.” Otherwise, Travis Kelce kept things toned down on purpose.
But people still found a reason to bash him and Taylor Swift!