- Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce have been rumored to be dating.
- The pop superstar was spotted with Kelce at the Chiefs game on September 24.
We've all seen the photos, videos, and memes by now.
Taylor Swift was at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium to watch tight end Travis Kelce, whom she's rumored to be dating, help the Chiefs secure a win over the Chicago Bears on September 24.
Swift — who performed at the stadium earlier this year as part of the Eras Tour — cheered, clapped, and chatted with Kelce's mom, Donna Kelce, as the Chiefs scored touchdown after touchdown.
But what is a touchdown? And a first down? A field goal? Which one's the quarterback? The wide receiver? What does a tight end even do?
Don't worry, Insider's got your back. Here's everything you need to know about football now that Swift's rumored new beau is an NFL star.
How do you play football?
Welcome to the gridiron, Swifties.
It's the most-watched sport in the US and each team fields 11 players at a time, so every game is "feeling 22."
The goal of the game is to outscore the other team, mostly by getting the ball into the "end zone" — the 10-yard goal areas on either end of the 120-yard field.
A team scores a touchdown — and earns six points — either by throwing the ball to a player in the end zone or running the ball into the end zone.
Teams can also opt to kick the ball through the field goal posts (those big yellow U-shaped things in the end zone) to score a field goal for three points.
After a touchdown, a team can either earn one additional point by kicking an extra point through the uprights from the 15-yard-line or earn two points by throwing or running into the end zone from two yards back.
So how long is a football game? Each one is divided into four 15-minute quarters, with a longer break between the second and third quarters called halftime. But there's plenty of time to relax: The Wall Street Journal once infamously calculated that there's only about 11 minutes of actual playing during a game.
Each team has four chances — they're called "downs" — to move the ball forward 10 yards. Once the team passes 10 yards, the downs restart with another first down. If the team doesn't make it 10 yards in four chances, the ball gets turned over to the other team, who then get the chance to do the same thing in the opposite direction. Usually, a team will opt to kick the ball down the field on fourth down to give the opposing offense a starting position farther from the end zone — a punt.
When a team is on offense (when they have the ball) their 11 players include the quarterback, who leads the plays and passes the ball.
As "a fearless leader" and "an alpha type," the quarterback is something of "The Man" on offense.
There's also the running back, full back, wide receivers, and tight end — Travis Kelce's position! — who all can catch the ball or run with it; and the offensive line, whose players block the defense from getting to a sacking, or knocking down, the quarterback.
On defense, the team includes a defensive line, the opposite version of the offensive line; linebackers, who back up the defensive line; and cornerbacks and safeties, who help block catches, tackle runners, and support the defense. There are special teams too that kick the ball to the other team when the halves begin and after each touchdown, but you don't need to stress over that.
The game ends at with the conclusion of the fourth quarter unless there's a tie, in which case the game goes into overtime.
In the end, the team with the most points wins.
Tis the damn (football) season: What should I know about the NFL?
The NFL, or the National Football League, is home to the highest level of football on the planet. It's also the most popular sports league in America, with each of the eight most-watched TV events of 2022 devoted to NFL games.
The best football players and coaches flock to the league's 32 teams, which are divided into two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Those two conferences are each organized into four divisions consisting of four teams from similar geographic locations.
For example, Kelce's team, the Kansas City Chiefs, plays in the AFC.
Each team plays 17 games across the 18 weeks of the NFL season, leaving a blank space for a "bye week," or week off. Six of a team's 17 games in the regular season — before the playoffs — are against the other three teams in their division; the Chiefs, for example, will face each of the other AFC West teams once at home and once on the road each year. Their other 11 games are almost evenly divided between AFC and NFC teams.
Fourteen teams advance to the playoffs at the end of the regular season. The team with the best record in each division goes through the postseason. The three remaining teams with the best record in each conference also earn a spot in the playoffs, referred to as a "wild card."
Once the playoffs kick off, teams face off in a single game to determine who moves on. Once we get down to two teams, they'll move on to try to win it all in the Super Bowl, where the winner becomes the champs and gets to hoist football's top prize — the dazzling Lombardi Trophy.
Is there any bad blood between certain teams?
We know all too well that rivalries are big in sports culture, and that's totally true in football. Over the years, rivalries have created bad blood between fans and players on the field.
Some of the biggest rivalries come down to competitiveness within divisions.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens of the AFC North, the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears of the NFC North, the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles of the NFC East, and the Chief's rivalry against the Las Vegas Raiders in the AFC West are among the biggest team rivalries in the NFL.
Who is Travis Kelce's team, the Kansas City Chiefs?
The Kansas City Chiefs play in Missouri about 500 miles northwest of Swift's beloved Nashville, Tennessee, and they're doing well this year.
The team originally played as the Dallas Texans in the early 1960s, but in 1963, team owner Lamar Hunt moved them to Kansas City and renamed them the Chiefs.
The franchise is bejeweled with several Super Bowl rings — it has won three since the championship was created in 1967.
It won most recently last season in 2023 in a matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. Kelce faced his older brother, Eagles center Jason Kelce during that championship matchup.
The team is currently coached by Andy Reid, who joked during a post-game interview after the Chiefs' game against the Bears that he had previously met Swift and that he may have set her and Kelce up.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes also joked about Swift being at the game, telling reporter Erin Andrews after the team's win that he felt pressure to get Kelce a touchdown, knowing that the pop star was in the stands.
Should I root for them?
Sure! The Chiefs are one of the hottest teams in the NFL right now, and with two Super Bowl victories in the last four years, they make the whole place shimmer. On top of that, Mahomes is one of the greatest and most exciting quarterbacks in the league.
You may be considered a bandwagon fan to latch onto a team like the Chiefs, (like becoming a Swiftie any time after, say, 2017), but they do don the same color as one of Swift's most beloved albums: "Red."
If you're looking for more Swift connections as she's rumored to be dating the boy on the football team, Kelce wears #87. A self-titled Swift album lover may remember the lyric from Mary's Song, "I'll be eighty-seven; you'll be eighty-nine."
On top of that, Kelce wore blue and white before and after the the September 24 game, which some fans have suggested could be a quiet reference to Swift's upcoming album, 1989 (Taylor's Version).
While Taylor Swift can love the players (or player, in this case), we sure can love the game!
Happy football season, everybody!