Kansas Metropolis Chiefs tight finish Travis Kelce (87) reacts after a primary down through the second half of an NFL soccer sport in opposition to the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, in Minneapolis. (AP Picture/Abbie Parr)
Want one other signal that Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are merely meant to be collectively or “Tayvis” or besties or no matter it’s they’re?
How about this: the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs star tight finish simply spent Week 5 coping with each a gnarly-looking sprained ankle and a unnecessary dig from Aaron Rodgers the very same means.
By … shaking it off.
How’s that track go once more?
“Gamers gonna play, play, play, play, play
“And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate (haters gonna hate)
“Child, I’m simply gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
“I shake it off, I shake it off.”
Swift could sing these phrases when she resumes The Eras Tour however it’s Kelce who’s residing them phrase for phrase proper now in entrance of our eyes.
Kelce’s day — and perhaps season — gave the impression to be over late within the second quarter of the Chiefs’ 27-20 win at Minnesota on Sunday when he went down awkwardly with out being touched and limped off the sector, slamming his helmet and heading all the way down to the locker room.
Kelce didn’t return after halftime together with his teammates however emerged from the tunnel simply earlier than the second-half kickoff. After standing on the Chiefs’ sideline for his or her first drive, he returned to motion and performed a key function in Kansas Metropolis’s fourth consecutive win.
Kelce corralled a trio of massive catches from Patrick Mahomes on a landing drive that gave Okay.C. a 27-13 lead, together with the 4-yard reception in the long run zone after his leaping, 14-yard seize withstood a Minnesota problem.
“Fairly wonderful,” coach Andy Reid mentioned of Kelce’s Willis Reed second, which got here 48 hours after Kelce shook off Rodgers’ anti-jab digs with equal aplomb.
Singer Taylor Swift cheers previous to the sport between the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on October 01, 2023 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Elsa/Getty Photos/AFP (Picture by ELSA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Photos through AFP)
Proving he doesn’t simply have Swift’s consideration these days, Kelce was the goal of Rodgers, the infamous anti-vaxxer who’s recovering from an Achilles tear in his Jets debut and took a dig on the Chiefs star tight finish out of the blue final week, poking enjoyable at Kelce’s promotion of flu and up to date COVID-19 vaccines.
Rodgers mentioned throughout his look on “The Pat McAfee Present” that the Jets’ 23-20 loss to Kansas Metropolis in Week 4 was an ethical victory in “that we hung with the champs and that our protection performed effectively, and Pat didn’t have a loopy sport, and Mr. Pfizer, we type of shut him down. He didn’t have his loopy impression sport.”
Kelce did have a team-high six catches for 60 yards, however OK, he didn’t rating.
Rodgers has lengthy been outspoken about COVID-19 and the NFL’s protocols that had been in place in 2020-21, which he referred to as draconian and designed to disgrace gamers like himself who didn’t get the shot.
He acknowledged on the time that he presumably misled the general public about his vaccination standing and he missed a sport, coincidentally in opposition to Kelce and the Chiefs, that season when he contracted the virus. The day after he was dominated out in opposition to Kansas Metropolis, he went on McAfee’s present and questioned the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines altogether.
Every week later, he mentioned on McAfee’s present and mentioned he didn’t intend to gasoline the divide over vaccines, including, “I respect everyone’s opinion … I’m not gonna hate on anyone that has mentioned issues about me. I imagine everyone’s entitled to their opinion. I’ll at all times imagine that.
“I’m an athlete, I’m not an activist,” Rodgers added, explaining he didn’t need to champion any facet of the simmering debate that had expanded from medical doctors’ workplaces to the political sphere. “I’m gonna get again to doing what I do finest, and that’s taking part in ball.”
With out that aggressive outlet two years later as he recovers from surgical procedure, Rodgers determined to chime in on the COVID-19 difficulty once more a few days after Kelce appeared in a brand new advert selling the double dose of the flu and COVID-19 vaccines this fall, as really helpful by the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
The advert, which incorporates Kelce’s mom, Donna, is a part of a partnership with Pfizer, the pharmaceutical firm which developed a vaccine in response to the pandemic.
Requested Friday if he’d heard Rodgers’ remarks, Kelce dealt with it like a public relations professional.
“ I assumed it was fairly good, ” Kelce mentioned. “With this mustache proper now I appear to be a man named Mr. Pfizer. Who knew I’d get into the vax wars with Aaron Rodgers, man? Mr. Pfizer vs. the Johnson & Johnson household over there.”
Jets proprietor Woody Johnson is a descendent of one in every of three brothers who based Johnson & Johnson, which additionally developed a vaccine for COVID-19.
Kelce mentioned he’s an advocate of the vaccinations “due to protecting myself secure, protecting my household secure, the folks on this constructing, so yeah I stand by it 1,000%.
“Absolutely snug with him calling me Mr. Pfizer.”
So, who landed the perfect blow over this anti-jab rumpus?
Most likely Pfizer, which capitalized on the row by placing up billboards forward of the Chiefs’ sport in Minneapolis that includes a blue jersey with Kelce’s No. 87 and the identify stitched throughout the again was …
“Mr Pfizer”
One other billboard, this one from a radio station, additionally referenced Kelce if not by identify:
“Beat Taylor’s boyfriend.”
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Kelce bought the higher of the Vikings, nevertheless, simply as he outpointed Rodgers.