Travis Kelce Plays First Kansas City Chiefs Game Following Whirlwind Summer with Taylor Swift

The tight end took the field at EverBank Stadium during the Chiefs’ preseason matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday, Aug. 10

Following a whirlwind summer with girlfriend Taylor Swift and subsequent reunion with his teammates at training camp, NFL star Travis Kelce made his return to the gridiron during the Kansas City Chiefs’ first preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The tight end, 34, took the field at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday, Aug. 10, for the first time since the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII win over the San Francisco 49ers in February.

Ahead of the game, Kelce was spotted on the official Chiefs Instagram account sporting a stylish look consisting of a patterned button-down shirt, khaki pants, gold sunglasses, a matching gold chain, a cap reading “Superbad” — printed in the font of the 2007 comedy movie’s poster — and some Nike shoes in the Chiefs’ colors: red and gold.

Although the Chiefs faced a tough defeat, losing to the Jaguars 13-26, Kelce and several of his teammates — including rookie running back Carson Steele, who scored a high-energy touchdown, and controversial kicker Harrison Butker, who netted a 45-yard kick — made a few solid plays.

The game saw the introduction of a new NFL rule concerning kickoffs, and several critics — among them, CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan — wrote that this may be something that the team collectively needs to work on.

“One of the big-picture takeaways from that first half is that the Chiefs clearly need to work on the new kickoff,” Sullivan wrote. “A lot of struggles in multiple areas.”

During the NFL off-season, Kelce spent much of his downtime with Swift, also 34, as she continued performing the international legs of her record-breaking Eras Tour.

Aside from watching the singer perform in European cities including Paris, Amsterdam and London, where Kelce also appeared onstage with Swift, the couple also went on vacation together in the Bahamas in March and took a romantic getaway to Italy in May.

At the end of the July, Kelce’s focus turned back to football, when the Chiefs commenced training camp on July 21 as they started preparation for the 2024-2025 NFL season.