Furious NFL fans have slammed the fanfare surrounding Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce and criticised NBC for too many mentions and cutaways of the singer during Sunday night's broadcast of the Jets Chiefs game. The online chatter surrounding their relationship reached a fever pitch on Sunday when Swift turned up at MetLife Stadium to watch Kelce play for the second week in a row. As soon as the cameras spotted Swift in the stands NBC anchor Mike Tirico said "Oh yeah she's here Taylor is in the house" before adding "Hi Swifties we'll be with you all night". During the game NBC cut to the singer 17 different times in a move that became a constant source of frustration for those tuning in to watch Kansas City dominate against New York.
NFL fans have slammed Swift's football take over with some saying that the constant cutaways to the singer during the coverage is destroying football. Award-winning sports writer Jeff Pearlman wrote on Twitter: "In case anyone didn't hear Taylor Swift was at the game. And NBC made it really annoying". Fox contributor Tomi Lahren wrote: "The wall to wall coverage of Taylor Swift at this game is annoying AF. I don't even like football and I agree it's destroying football".
And the furore surrounding the singer wasn't isolated to NBC. Terry Bradshaw, the co-host of Fox NFL Sunday, even gave handmade Taylor Swift friendship bracelets to his co-workers during the live broadcast. As he handed them out he said "You're now part of the Swiftie group".
The most furious reaction came after the Chiefs first touchdown when NBC's cameras immediately cut to Taylor hugging her friends. Joe Pompliano, a sports business analyst, wrote on Twitter: "The broadcast is showing Taylor Swift immediately after the Chiefs score and she is hugging people to celebrate an ISIAH PACHECO touchdown. This is already getting ridiculous".
And the furore surrounding the singer wasn't isolated to NBC. Terry Bradshaw, the co-host of Fox NFL Sunday, even gave handmade Taylor Swift friendship bracelets to his co-workers during the live broadcast. Fox Sports NFL tweeted: "Terry Bradshaw is channeling his inner Swiftie by giving friendship bracelets to our crew".
In response one fan said: "GOOD GRIEF talk football. SICKENING TO KEEP HEARING SWIFT OR SWIFTIES". The most furious reaction came after the Chiefs first touchdown when NBC's cameras immediately cut to Taylor and her celebrity pals including Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds in their suite. Given it was Isiah Pacheco scoring the points rather than Kelce, some fans were left furious claiming they should have shown the players celebrating on the field instead.
NBC's telecast cut to Swift several times during the game including a shot of the pop superstar with her arm around Kelce's mother Donna, who was wearing her son's No 87 jersey. One fan wrote on Twitter: "Please don't play a Taylor Swift on your TV drinking game you'll be hospitalized if you aren't already". Another added: "These Taylor Swift cutaways during Chiefs games have got to go".
Maria Taylor, the host of NBC's pregame show on Sunday night, had opened her monologue with a nod to Swift's song "Enchanted" and over the night hour the anchors spoke about fans wearing the singer's t-shirts. When Swift arrived at MetLife Stadium at around 7:40pm, announcer Mike Tirico said "Oh and yeah she's here Taylor is in the house". He then added "Hi Swifties we'll be with you all night". The Jets Chiefs game on Sunday night was the second in the space of a week that Swift has dominated after she turned up at Arrowhead last Sunday to watch her man score a touchdown in the 41-10 beatdown of the Bears.
