NFL Great Tony Dungy is sick and tired of hearing about Taylor Swift attending NFL games and insists that the league’s constant focus on the pop star distracts from the game.
Speaking to Fox News, the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee insisted that Swift is not helping football and said the “Taylor Swift effect” takes away focus from what is going on down on the field.
“That’s the thing that’s disenchanting people with sports now,” Dungy said. “There’s so much on the outside coming in. Entertainment value and different things taking away from what really happens on the field.”
Taylor Swift attends ‘In Conversation With… Taylor Swift’ during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival at TIFF Bell Lightbox on September 09, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Dungy certainly has a point, at least where Travis Kelce’s work on the field is concerned.
Whenever Kelce does anything on the field, the NFL’s cameras always cut to his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, in the stands to get her reaction. Meanwhile, whatever is going on down on the field is missed by viewers at home as they are treated to constant shots of Swift.
Even as far back as early October, Kelce noted that the constant focus on Swift’s attendance at NFL games is “overdoing it.
“I think it’s fun when they show who all is at the game,” Travis said. “I think it brings a little bit more to the atmosphere, brings a little bit more to what you’re watching,” Kelce said of shots of fans in the stands during games.
“But at the same time, I think they’re overdoing it a little bit for sure. Especially my situation.”
Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes react during a game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on October 22, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. (David Eulitt/Getty Images)
But that hasn’t stopped the league from going all in on pushing Taylor Swift’s sudden interest in the NFL since she and Kelce became an item.
The league even changed all its social media photo and bio toppers in October to feature Swift’s gameday attendance. They finally removed the photos after a backlash ensued.
Dungy is an outspoken former member of the NFL and is especially a proud and open Christian. Last year, he attended the 2023 March for Life.
He explained his pro-life position, saying, “It all comes down to what you believe about the organism growing inside the mother. Is it a life or not? If it is just growing tissue, then your ‘choice’ makes sense. If it’s a life, then it’s obviously not okay to choose to end it. What does your Bible tell you it is? Psalm 139:16.”
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