Getty Brett Favre at The Wynwood Marketplace on February 01, 2020.
The Kanas City Chiefs and their fans have embraced tight end Travis Kelce‘s girlfriend Taylor Swift as one of their own. However, there are some dads, Brads, and Chads bothered by Swift’s highly publicized presence at games.
On Tuesday, January 16, a disparaging quote claimed Swift is “using” Kelce for a “money grab.” The comment was attributed to Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre by Brian Krassenstein, who has nearly 800,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter), in a since-deleted tweet that immediately went viral.
However, as SI’s Jimmy Traina pointed out, “Krassenstein didn’t reveal where Favre said this, didn’t cite a source and didn’t let anyone know where he got this quote.” Traina ultimately discovered the tweet, which was later removed from the social media site, had been based on information shared by a parody account.
“I don’t like defending Brett Favre, but I despise what Twitter has become in terms of the anarchy and ease with which fake news gets spread,” Traina noted. Favre is embroiled in Mississippi’s welfare scandal in which about $5 million in funds helped pay for a volleyball arena at his alma mater, the AP reported.
Swift has been at the center of several wild claims. Last week, Fox News host Jesse Watters claimed “the Pentagon psyop unit pitched NATO on turning Taylor Swift into an asset for combating misinformation online.” The Pentagon pushed back on the egregious claim.
Taylor and Travis leaving Arrowhead stadium together!! 🥹
“As for this conspiracy theory, we are going to shake it off,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said, per Politico. “But that does highlight that we still need Congress to approve our supplemental budget request as Swift-ly as possible so we can be out of the woods with potential fiscal concerns.”
The Quote Claiming Taylor Swift Was ‘Using’ Travis Kelce Appears to Have Came From a Parody Account
Favre’s fake quote appears to stem from an X account labeled “Staff Sargeant Johnson,” whose bio notes the handle is a “Raw & Unfiltered Parody account.”
Johnson posted on January 15, “BREAKING FOX NEWS: Welare theif Brett Farve on the NFL Network blasted Taylor Swift…”She’s obviously using Travis Kelce for publicity. It’s a money grab that’s not going to end well. Eventually the Cheifs are going to lose & it will be her fault. She’s bad for football.”
However, if Favre said this during an appearance on NFL Network, there would’ve been immediate outrage. A video of his appearance would’ve gone viral, like Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy’s recent comments on Swift.
During an interview with Fox News on January 12, Dungy was asked about a poll that showed less than 25% of Gen Z consider themselves “avid sports fans.”
GettyFormer NFL player and head coach Tony Dungy at Lambeau Field on December 3, 2023.
“I think we’ll always have sports in some form or fashion. Some people are disenchanted with it,” Dungy said.
When asked about Swift, Dungy said, “That’s the thing that’s disenchanting people with sports now. There’s so much on the outside coming in. Entertainment value and different things that’s taking away from what really happens on the field.”
Dungy’s comments are completely off-base according to Clark Hunt, the Chiefs’ owner and CEO. Hunt told CNBC’s Jim Kramer that he loves having Swift at games.
“It’s been a very interesting, very fun year having the two of them dating, the attention that’s been focused on the Chiefs,” Hunt said. “Our female audience has grown leaps and bounds.”
Brett Favre Did Comment on Fans Blaming Taylor Swift if the Chiefs Lose
Brett Favre Expects Fans To Make Taylor Swift Scapegoat If Chiefs Don’t Make SB | Click to read more 👇
In an interview with TMZ Sports on January 13, Favre suggested that if the Chiefs lose, disgruntled fans will blame Swift. “If they don’t win it, or get to the Super Bowl,” Favre said, “people are going to say, ‘That’s why.'”
Favre, however, believes the Chiefs are strong contenders to win back-to-back championships. “Until [head coach] Andy Reid is unseated as the champion, I have to see it to believe it.”
With Swift in attendance, the Chiefs crushed the Miami Dolphins 26-7 in the Wild Card round. Next up, Kansas City faces the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional round at Highmark Stadium on Sunday, January 21.