Had no idea Tom Watson was a big Kansas City Chiefs fan.
Interesting theory he’s tossed out there, though, about some of the dropsies issues that superstar tight end Travis Kelce has dealt with of late. In the opinion of the eight-time major champion, Taylor Swift might be to blame.
That headline makes it sound worse than it actually was. Watson is having a bit of fun and even half-joking about it, yet I can promise you, that won’t stop some members of the Swiftie community attacking this man. Oh well. Watson has been in the spotlight for decades, I’m sure he can handle a little heat from some impassioned teens/20-somethings who are standing up for the biggest pop star on the planet.
To be fair to the point Watson is making, Kelce himself admitted last month that he needed to “lock the f*ck in” as the Chiefs were battling adversity and not looking like their typical juggernaut selves. How funny is it that Kansas City is allegedly having a down year, yet still had the No. 9 total offense in football during the regular season. They’re only one win away from playing in the AFC Championship Game for a sixth consecutive time.
I think it’s fair to some degree to say that T-Swift is a distraction for Kelce away form the gridiron. How could she not be? Arguably no one is more universally popular or famous. But at the same time, Kelce is used to dealing with fame in his own right. He’s compartmentalized before. I’m sure it’s been an adjustment. Can we just acknowledge, too, that this is great for Taylor?
She’s finally dating someone who seems to appreciate her.
Plus, it’s not like Kelce is some scrub nowadays. Patrick Mahomes still has a one-of-one connection with him, and if Kadarius Toney weren’t an idiot, Kelce would’ve made one of the most iconic plays in regular-season history this year.
Kelce will turn 35 next season but has no plans to walk away from the game anytime soon. He’s going to decline a little bit as he ages. That’s the natural way of things. I think it’s already starting to happen in real time. Nevertheless, he still managed 93 catches for 984 yards and five TDs in 15 regular-season games. That’s pretty damn good. He then had seven catches for 71 yards on 10 targets in KC’s 26-7 domination of the Dolphins on Wild Card Weekend in stupid-cold conditions.
Taylor’s custom Kelce jacket is going to be the totem that breaks any alleged T-Swift curse anyway. Just watch what happens today. The Taylor-Travis star power is too devastating for Josh Allen and the Bills to overcome.
PS: Briefly tangentially…I’m happy for Stewart Cink and how he can still hang with the youngins on the PGA Tour. I will still never forgive him for robbing us of arguably the greatest golf storyline of all-time, when he beat Tom Watson in a playoff at Turnberry in the 2009 Open Championship.
Would’ve been Watson’s sixth time lifting the Claret Jug at age 59. Watson hit a perfect approach shot on the 72nd hole that rode the wind/took a cartoonish hop forward through the green, leading to a bogey and the eventual loss via playoff. Such a bummer. F*ck Stewart Cink. Just kidding.
But seriously, I’ll always harbor some type of purely sports-related grudge against him for that.
