Saquon Barkley didn’t win Super Bowl MVP, that went to quarterback Jalen Hurts, but, the Philadelphia Eagles‘ star running back won the hearts and minds of Taylor Swift fans everywhere.
At one point, Swift, who is famously dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, was shown on the jumbotron at the Superdome during the Super Bowl and she was booed vociferously by fans.
Taylor Swift booed at the Super Bowl 😳 pic.twitter.com/hMAGAvKep9
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) February 10, 2025
By all accounts, Eagles fans significantly outnumbered Chiefs fans leading up to the game in New Orleans and may have held a sizable advantage in the seats, as well.
Regardless of who fans were cheering for or how they may feel about Swift, Barkley admonished fans for booing her.
“She’s there supporting her significant other and she’s made the game bigger,” Barkley said, during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show. “We’re all about, in football, we’re all about how can we expand the game and make it more internationally and we’re traveling to Brazil and we’re traveling to Mexico, and apparently we’re traveling to Australia soon, so we’re trying to expand the game and her being a part of it is only helping that, so I don’t get the slack that she’s getting.”
Barkley is right, in this case.
There is little doubt that Swift’s presence at Chiefs games over the past two years has raised the profile of the sport and opened doors for female fans and a younger audience to engage with the NFL.
Even if Eagles fans thought that they were merely having a fun moment or booing an opposing fan, Swift’s presence has in a lot of ways, elevated the sport and broadened the audience. Fans looking to gatekeep football do the sport and its growth a disservice. Just as they are to the fans who became fans of the sport because of Taylor Swift.
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