The NFL's Devil: Taylor Swift

For months now, many football fans have debated the need for the overwhelming attention pointed toward Taylor Swift, especially during games when the camera cut to her almost every time the Chiefs made a play. Simultaneously, reports about families bonding over football and Taylor Swift have become prominent as well as the increase in revenue for the NFL. While these effects are beneficial on the surface, the reliance on Taylor Swift is indicative of a disconnect within families that runs far deeper than football.

First, the connections established by families—particularly fathers with their daughters—are based solely on Swift’s presence at the game. As everyone knows at this point, she attends the games in support of her boyfriend Travis Kelce; given Taylor’s track record with boyfriends, there is no guarantee they will stay together. Inherently, the uncertainty of their relationship creates an uncertain level of viewership over the coming years. Furthermore, the same uncertainty threatens these connections families are making. Will Swifties still care about football when she’s no longer there?

Second, the simple fact Taylor Swift was the catalyst for these connections begs the question of why now. There has to be some level of detachment within families if it takes a celebrity being in an atypical environment to spur this kind of connection. Let me be clear, I am not blaming Taylor Swift for the issue although her presence at football games has brought the issue to light. Generational and ideological differences have torn us apart like nothing else and yes, Swift’s influence in bringing football fans and their families together has been helpful but she is not the solution.

Our over reliance on Swift to establish the sense of community that should already exist between relatives foreshadows a future where cultural obsession with celebrities shapesfamily dynamics rather than those dynamics fostering cultural appreciation. In other words, by focusing so heavily on Taylor Swift as a conversation starter, we allow ourselves to become dependent on external reasons for connection instead of allowing ourselves the chance to connect on our own terms. So, Taylor Swift is the NFL’s devil not because of what she’s done for the organization but because of what she reveals about wider society, which is the fundamental fact that many people don’t know how to get along with each other.