I have no stake in the Super Bowl but I would kind of like to see San Francisco win. Not because I'm against Swifties, but I like the Brock Purdy story and how Kyle Shanahan has put the 49ers together. Reminds me a lot of the Seahawks team Pete Carroll built in the early teens. Yet, I wouldn't bet against Kansas City after pulling off two big road wins to return to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years.
The Chiefs were good before Taylor Swift became the defining feature of the team. All year long we saw the effect she not only had on the team but the NFL as a whole. Everyone was talking about Taylor and her relationship with Travis Kelce. We've literally watched that relationship reach full bloom with Taylor mouthing "I love you" after the Chiefs won the AFC Championship, and Travis giving her a great big kiss.
For the most part the NFL has loved it, as she has brought a spike in viewership and introduced a legion of her fans to the game. Still there are those who snipe at her both inside and outside the league. They don't like seeing their manly game overtaken by Millennials and Zoomers, even if the rosters are filled with players from these generations. Brock Purdy is himself a Zoomer. Most of the gripes are coming from retired players like Brett Favre, although he has since walked back his criticism after Kansas City reached the Super Bowl.
Disgruntled viewers saw her as a distraction but recently political pundits have taken it to new heights, forming all sorts of wacky conspiracy theories around her presence at these games. So much so that Biden declined a pre-game interview on CBS so as not to feed into this hysteria. Not that it will make any difference. These addled conservatives see Swift as a "nuclear option" for Biden to win the Gen Z and Millennial vote. Like he needs any help after the MAGA crowd demonized Swift.
For all the talk of how Swift was having a huge impact on voter registration by urging her Swifties to be more active, only 35,000 new voters claim they were inspired by her. That's not even a dent in the electorate, yet you would think she brought 100 times that number to the Democratic Party in September to hear conservative talk show hosts.
Taylor endorsed Biden in 2020 and no doubt will do so again in 2024. She is considered a valuable asset because of her reach to young voters, and that influence has grown substantially in the wake of her Eras Tour. It has made her the biggest pop star in the world, far outpacing her Boomer peers. To hear the stories, she puts on incredible shows, not bothered by rain as she belts out song after song, going on for as much as four hours! This led Bill Belichick to quip, "she's tough, man. Just stood out there and played right through it." I think anyone would want her in their camp after that performance.
Not the MAGA crazies. They see her as part of the George Soros funded Deep State turning the young into glazed-eyed idolaters, blissfully unaware of the irony. They think they have a significant counter balance in Kid Rock and Ted Nugent. I would have thought Jack Posobiec more contemporary and named Jason Aldean and Oliver Anthony, who were supposed to highlight the Super Bowl this year, but their names have since faded. This has forced Trump's followers into a very uneasy situation. Do they root for San Francisco, the most liberal city in America, against the Kansas City Chiefs led by #tayvis? Or, do they just sit this one out?
All this would be amusing if it didn't capture so much media attention. So far, the Donald has remained relatively silent, as his immediate camp doesn't want to rile Swifties. I suppose if she comes out in support of Biden after the Super Bowl then she is fair game. In the meantime, he has another woman to worry about with the primary looming in South Carolina. Nikki just won't go away.
It must feel strange for the teams to see Super Bowl week taken over by all this talk of politics but it probably is good for the players as they can just focus on the game. For Brock Purdy this is the sweetest revenge after all the flack he has taken from bitter quarterbacks like Cam Newton, who see him as a "game manager." That was the same criticism a young Russell Wilson got before scoring his first Super Bowl victory over Denver. For Kansas City it will be a chance to cement their reputation as a dynasty with three rings in five years. Both teams have much to play for.
As for Taylor and Travis, it has been a romance writ large during the course of the football season. One that has been fun to watch play out and that Japan has no interest in interfering with by making sure Taylor gets to the Super Bowl in time after her concert in Tokyo.
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