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Ross Raihala: I watched the Super Bowl for the third time ever because of Taylor Swift

ross raihala, pioneer press
·4 min read

I went to a Super Bowl party for the second time in my life on Sunday. Or third, if you count going to the actual Super Bowl. And it was solely because of Taylor Swift.

When I attended my first big game day fete, I was six months out of college, working for minimum wage as a part-time features clerk at the daily newspaper in Fargo. One of the sports guys offered to pay $100 to anyone who would get their head shaved bald during the party.

I eagerly signed up, claimed the $100 and don’t remember much else about the event beyond the one important lesson I learned. Turns out in addition to being quite large, my head is also oddly shaped with what looks a ridge running down the center of my skull.

In 2018, I reviewed Justin Timberlake’s halftime show. If you recall, it was, like, 10 below and windy that entire week. The process of getting into and out of U.S. Bank Stadium was unbelievably frustrating and made worse given it was to witness Timberlake’s dull performance with his ill-advised tribute to Prince and pathetic shout of “Minneapolis” in the style of Janet Jackson during “Escapade.”

Speaking of the Vikings stadium, that was the scene of my eighth Taylor Swift concert. I’ve covered her for her entire career and was blown away by what I wrote was “epic on a scale never before seen in a pop music concert. It’s easily the most spectacular stadium tour ever. Yes, I said ever.”

A week later, I wrote a follow-up column explaining why she’s such a big deal. But I had no idea Travis Kelce was about to enter the picture.

From the first moment Taylor was spotted at a Chiefs game, I was hooked. I loved the budding romance, even when I thought it might be fake. I loved just how mad it made so-called serious sports fans. I loved this bit I wrote, so much so I’m repeating it here: “I also know Travis Kelce is a really handsome guy — as is his older brother Jason, woof! — thanks to his gig hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’ in March. He’s got a great smile and seems to be relatively normal and well-adjusted, at least for someone worth $30 million.”

My sports-minded friends began dutifully reporting Taylor news to me, including my buddy Stu who sent me the greatest text of all time: “Jason Kelce’s brother just made the heart sign at Taylor after scoring a touchdown. Also Jason is shirtless at the game.”

As much fun as it’s been watching this romance blossom in full sight of television cameras while eating up every last boneheaded hot take about the pair, I wasn’t really prepared for the more recent, far-right backlash from pundits who profit in stoking outrage.

Fox News host Jesse Watters claimed the relationship was engineered by “the Pentagon’s psychological operations unit.” Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy used the site formerly known as Twitter to speculate: “I wonder if there’s a major presidential endorsement coming from an artificially culturally propped-up couple this fall.” On Sunday, Donald Trump himself weighed in via a post on Truth Social: “Joe Biden didn’t do anything for Taylor, and never will. There’s no way she could endorse Crooked Joe Biden, the worst and most corrupt President in the History of our Country, and be disloyal to the man who made her so much money.”

So I was quite eager to watch the Super Bowl and see how Taylor would further destroy the sport and, possibly, a large portion of the Republican party. If nothing else, I figured it would be fun to see just what it is about Taylor’s mere presence at her boyfriend’s games that has conjured such sheer anger.

I’m happy to report that the party itself was fun. Someone brought an adorable baby, I devoured a delicious vegetarian Sloppy Joe (or two) and discovered the heaven that is Minnesota’s own Toom garlic dip. My pals cheered at various points and laughed at that bizarre ad about how Jesus washed people’s feet. I enjoyed seeing Usher in roller skates and was quite pleased his rumored surprise guest Justin Bieber was a no show. (He could have dethroned Timberlake as the worst Justin ever in a halftime show.)

As for Taylor … this is what people are so mad about? A few random shots of her cheering alongside Blake Lively, Ice Spice, Lana Del Rey and (swoon) Jason Kelce? For real?

It turns out Taylor Swift was just there to cheer on her main squeeze’s winning team while chugging a beer or two in the process. Sounds like the perfect love story to me.

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