Why Jason and Travis Kelce Are Thanking the Swifties for Their Latest Achievement

Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce's smiles are like they won a contest. 

After all, they did. The Kelce brothers' weekly show, New Heights, was voted Podcast of the Year in the 2024 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards. 

"Get the f--k out of here," Travis told Jason in a video shared to the New Heights Instagram account March 11. "People actually listen to this?"

And while the Kansas City Chiefs tight end and recently retired Philadelphia Eagles center were unable to attend the March 11 event held at the SXSW Conference and Festivals in Austin, Texas, they did send love to the fans who helped them win the award.

"This is an incredible honor especially for two jabronies like us," Jason continued. "We'd be remiss if we didn't thank all of the 92 percenters out there, a.k.a Swifties, who voted for us to win this award."

And Travis, whose relationship with Taylor Swift helped New Heights gain a much bigger audience, clearly shares the "Karma" singer's respect for his newfound—and highly dedicated—fanbase. 

"Podcast of the year is big s--t," he added. "We truly have the best fanbase in the entire world, thank you for voting every single day of every single month—and every hour of that day." 

In addition to shouting out their strategic campaigners, Jason—who shares daughters Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 3, and Bennett, 12 months, with wife Kylie Kelce—touched on why the podcast has endured since its September 2022 debut.

"We absolutely love making this podcast each and every week," he explained. "It is beyond rewarding when we find out that it resonates with so many people out there and that they get joy out of it because we put a lot of that into it."

While New Heights mostly details the Kelce brothers' life as NFL players, it has also provided adorable insight on Taylor and Travis' relationship. In fact, a comment Travis made during a July 2023 episode played a monumental role in bringing  football player and Grammy winner together. 

"This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell," Taylor told TIME in December. "We started hanging out right after that."

As for the exact comment that made Taylor enchanted enough to meet Travis? At the time, the tight end was, of course, detailing his trip to the Eras Tour at Arrowhead Stadium, and his missed opportunity to give her a friendship bracelet. 

"I was a little butt-hurt I didn't get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her," he told his brother on the now-iconic New Heights episode. "I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it."

And while, at the time, Jason needed clarification on whether Travis meant his phone number or his jersey number, Taylor has later been seen donning the latter on a chain around her neck, or on her wrist, during game days.

Read on for every highlight from Taylor and Travis' love story.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's love story began in July 2023, when the singer's Eras Tour made a stop at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

As a huge Swiftie, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end caught the show with hopes of giving Taylor a friendship bracelet with his number on it. However, he failed to complete the pass due to her pre-show rituals.

"I was disappointed that she doesn't talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings," Travis shared on the July 26 episode of his New Heights podcast. "So, I was a little butt-hurt I didn't get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her."

After publicly recounting his fumble—a move Taylor would later describe as "metal as hell"—Travis decided to shoot his shot and invite the Grammy winner to watch the Chiefs play at Arrowhead Stadium.

"I threw it out there, I threw the ball in her court," he shared on The Pat McAfee Show. "I told her, you know, 'I've seen you rock the stage in Arrowhead, you might have to come see me rock the stage in Arrowhead and see which one's a little more lit.' So, we'll see what happens in the near future."

Travis was rocking a mustache—which he debuted in August during training camp—when he was first introduced to Taylor.

As he later noted of the era, "That 'stache and the 87 jersey was pretty iconic there for a little bit, and I had it when I met Taylor for the first time."

By early September, a source close to the situation told E! News that Travis and Taylor were "texting and talking here and there."

"It's been very low-key," the insider explained, "as he's been in season."

Accepting Travis' invite, Taylor joined the athlete's mom Donna Kelce at Arrowhead Stadium to watch him and the Chiefs take on the Chicago Bears. After the game, Taylor and Travis were seen packing PDA at a local bar.

Though folklore had it that it was the couple's first in-person meeting, the "Karma" singer later clarified the two had spent a "significant amount of time" getting to know each other beforehand.

As Taylor noted, "We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date." 

As an indication that the relationship was heating up, Taylor brought her squad—including friends Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Sophie Turner, Hugh Jackman, Sabrina Carpenter and Antoni Porowski—to watch the Chiefs play against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Another sign that Travis could be The 1? Taylor started bonding with Brittany Mahomes—the wife of Travis' BFF and teammate Patrick Mahomes—in and outside of NFL games.

The couple took their romance to TV, making a surprise appearance on the Oct. 14 episode of Saturday Night Live. Their Big Apple takeover also included the after-party for the NBC sketch show and a date night at the Waverly Inn.

During a bye week, Travis traveled down to Argentina to catch the South American leg of Taylor's Eras Tour. Not only did the NFL star bond with Taylor's dad, Scott Swift, at the Nov. 11 show in Buenos Aires, but he also got a special shoutout from the stage.

"Karma is that guy on the Chiefs," Taylor sang, "coming straight home to me."

After the show, the Midnights artist was seen running up to Travis backstage and greeting him with a passionate kiss.

Taylor addressed the lavender craze surrounding her appearances at Travis' games.

"I'm going to see him do what he loves, we're showing up for each other, other people are there and we don't care," she told Time. "The opposite of that is you have to go to an extreme amount of effort to make sure no one knows that you're seeing someone."

 

The music superstar turned Travis' Dec. 17 game into a family affair, bringing her dad to cheer on her man.

Taylor and Travis spent their first New Year's Eve together, sharing a romantic kiss when the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1.

Continuing to bond with Travis' family, Taylor hung out with his brother Jason Kelce and sister-in-law Kylie Kelce at the Chiefs' game against the Buffalo Bills.

Taylor joined Travis on the football field when the Chiefs won the AFC Championship, a victory that cemented the team's spot in the 2024 Super Bowl. The couple shared a celebratory kiss before exchanging the L-word.

"Tay, I'm gonna enjoy with the guys," he told her. "I love you—so much it's not funny."

 

 

The pair locked lips on the field after Travis led the Kansas City Chiefs to victory on Feb. 11, 2024 in Las Vegas.

Taylor posted footage of Travis on social media for the first time Feb. 12, poking fun at how she took her parents clubbing with the athlete after the Super Bowl.

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