Fatherhood, Taylor Swift, and The Super Bowl

“Hey, there’s Taylor.”

My teenage daughter looked up from her phone.

My 8-year-old daughter paused playing with Barbies and watched the TV.

If I, for some reason, found myself in a situation where I was told to sing a full Taylor Swift song or die, I would be a dead man. I know there’s one about shaking things off. Oh, I remember a song about mean people. And there’s that New York song they play before New York Liberty games. I know she’s written a bunch of songs about guys that dumped her, but I don’t know any of those tunes. Needless to say, I’m no Swiftie.

And for a brief moment, my 17-year-old daughter, my 8-year-old daughter, my 12-year-old son and I were all watching an NFL broadcast. If there wasn’t a chance of a Taylor sighting, my oldest daughter would have been in a different room on her phone. My 8-year-old would have played in her bedroom, leaving me with my 12-year-old son, who was only watching football because I was interested.

I don’t believe in conspiracy theories, so I’m going to leave that ridiculous idea out of this. If you really want to know about that, Google it. Or not. It’s pretty ridiculous.

The Taylor and Travis Show took off like a firestorm. I don’t know how it happened, but suddenly, shots of Taylor Swift in a luxury box occurred throughout every Chief’s game. During Sportscenter, Get Up, and First Take, videos of Taylor celebrating were spliced into every recap. She became the conversation on all things NFL related.

At first, I found it quite annoying. I wanted to watch my football like I usually did. I longed for the days when I watched my favorite sport, in which opposing teams crashed into one another, with the possibility of a concussion in every hit. Where one unfortunate circumstance could ruin a person’s life. To root on players that participated in evil acts, but found their way back to the playing field. The good ole days. For those that are upset that the purity of football is tarnished, the game was never pure to begin with.

I’m not upset about the attention Taylor and Travis are receiving. They are two people who are at the top of their professions and they’re in love. Watching love bloom is a good thing. I will not be rooting for the Chiefs during the Super Bowl, but I am rooting for Taylor and Travis. There’s enough heartache in the world.

If an occasional camera shot of Taylor cheering on her beau during the Super Bowl means my daughters watch next to me, then I hope there’s a plethora of videos. Each time they show the Swiftbowl, I’ll alert my kids of the celebrity sighting. Being on the same page with my kids is always welcomed.

 And just maybe, we’ll get more images of a drunken Jason Kelce ripping his shirt off and jumping into the crowd.

And for those guys that are upset that Taylor will be frequently appearing on your TV, try shaking it off.