Vikings Defender Plans to Trash Talk Chiefs’ Travis Kelce & Taylor Swift

Getty Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. will try whatever possible to get under Travis Kelce‘s skin — and that includes poking fun at his rumored girlfriend, Taylor Swift.

“Oh man, the social media is going crazy,” Murphy said when asked about the league’s propping up of the Swift-Kelce story, according to ESPN’s Kevin Siefert. “And I’m not hating against it. That’s the world we’re living in. Is she going to come to this game? We’re locked in, but that would be something. I’ve been watching her since I was a kid. That would be cool, for sure.

Murphy said he’ll be locked in regardless of whether Swift visits U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday when the Chiefs play the Vikings in a Week 5 matchup — but regardless, he’ll have some words for Kelce.

“Not for him, because we’re going to try to get our hands on him in front of her,” Murphy added. “I’m going to say something to him to get him going.”

Swift’s presence at Chiefs games this season has been highly publicized. The NFL official X account, formerly Twitter, shared several photos and videos of her at Kansas City’s Week 4 win over the New York Jets, which were among the highest-viewed posts on Sunday, garnering millions of views on the social media platform.

According to NBC Sports, the game was the most-watched Sunday show since the Super Bowl with an average of 27 million TV viewers. Viewership among teen girls aged 12-17 spiked 53% from the season-to-date average for Sunday Night Football, part of an approximate increase of more than two million female viewers. The audience among women aged 18-24 was up 24%.

The Swift effect should have an impact on viewership for Sunday’s 3:25 p.m. Central time matchup where the Vikings (1-3) hope to stun the NFL with an upset over the reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs (3-1).

Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell Addresses Chiefs Circus Coming to Minnesota

The fanfare that follows the Chiefs is unmatched and will be difficult to ignore this week as Minnesota hopes to climb out of a 0-3 start to the season.

Kevin O’Connell addressed the upcoming matchup in an October 2 news conference following the Vikings’ 21-13 win over the Carolina Panthers, emphasizing the importance of his team getting its first home win of the season against the Chiefs.

“We’re just going to go back to work this week, a heck of a challenge with Kansas City coming to U.S Bank Stadium,” O’Connell said. “I think it’s very important that we continue to strive and work towards playing the type of performance at home in front of our fans who truly make that the best possible atmosphere that we can and challenge the Super Bowl champs from last year.

Between coach [Andy] Reed and Pat [Mahomes], you know everything that comes to town when you play the Kansas City Chiefs,” O’Connell added. “It’s going to be a heck of a challenge but one I feel our team is excited for the preparation and taking on such a significant challenge and see if we can continue building on some momentum from yesterday.”

Vegas Not Counting Vikings Out vs. Chiefs

The Vikings may be at the bottom of the NFL power rankings after their slow start to the season, but Vegas doesn’t believe Sunday’s game will be a blowout.

Minnesota is a 7-point underdog to Kansas City, fitting for a Vikings franchise that has seemingly only played single-score games the past three seasons.

Heavy’s projection engine, Quarter4, has Minnesota with a 28% chance of winning on Sunday.