Travis Kelce was named Athlete of the Year by the People’s Choice Awards before the Kansas City Chiefs‘ tight end won Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers, despite him describing his own nomination as “f**king nonsense”. How did Taylor Swift help?

The battled out names such as LeBron James (NBA), Lionel Messi (soccer), Coco Gauff (tennis) and Simone Biles (gymnastics) to win the prize but he didn’t think he was worthy to be placed against such names as he spoke to Jason Kelce, his brother.

“How am I on this?” Travis asked on the New Heights podcast he runs, adding: “What did I do to get Athlete of the Year? I did ‘SNL’ (Saturday Night Live)?”

Kelce has become more popular since Swift began dating him publicly in September 2023, and there is no doubt that he would have gained more votes via association with how devoted Swifties (her fans) are.

But perhaps Swift‘s reputation wasn’t the only culprit in the matter as Jason Kelce, who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, called on fans to hijack the voting in response to his brother’s bewilderment.

Swift dominates People’s Choice Awards

Of course, Swifties were well interested in the awards ceremony for 2023 as their idol was nominated almost half a dozen times and took home four wins to add to her growing accolades cabinet.

The 34-year-old singer received nominations for Concert Tour of the Year, Female Artist, Pop Artist, Social Celebrity of the Year and Movie of the Year as she won all of them except for the movie where she was beaten by Barbie.

The pair didn’t manage to make their first red carpet appearance as their schedules refused to align with Kelce‘s NFL commitments and Swift’s Eras Tour obligations, but fans hoping to see the dynamic duo back together won’t have to wait long.