Chiefs President Says Travis Kelce ‘Can Handle’ Attention from Rumored Taylor Swift Romance (Exclusive)

Travis Kelce and the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs are dealing with the Taylor Swift period with professionalism, the group’s President Mark Donovan tells PEOPLE.

Chatting with PEOPLE at MetLife Stadium earlier than the matchup between the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and New York Jets, Donovan says his group is not anxious in regards to the media frenzy surrounding Kelce, 33, and Taylor Swift’s rumored relationship, and if it’d turn into a distraction for the group.

“Travis is a brilliant group participant,” says Donovan of the Chiefs tight finish. “He can deal with it and has been very skilled.”

And whereas NFL gamers relationship celebrities is not a brand new phenomenon, Donovan thinks Kelce is particularly ready to deal with the stress. When requested if there’s anybody who can deal with the stress of Swift-level consideration, “Travis can,” he says.

Regardless of the eye surrounding Swift and Kelce’s rumored romance, Donovan insists the NFL star is “targeted on the best issues and doing it the best method,” he says. “Our locker room has the maturity, management and respect to deal with it.” 

As an alternative of a distraction, the Chiefs President, who has been within the position since 2011, says the additional concentrate on Kansas Metropolis’s video games “has been enjoyable and good for everyone concerned.” Viewership skyrocketed when Swift attended her first recreation on Sept. 24 at Arrowhead Stadium.

In accordance with FOX Sports activities, the sport was the week’s highest-rated telecast on any community, with 24.3 million viewers. Regardless of the 41-10 trouncing over the Chicago Bears, the sport particularly captivated feminine viewers, ages 12 to 49, the community stated.

Donovan says it is a “actual profit” to have extra younger, feminine followers tuning into the NFL hoping to catch a glimpse of Swift on the published.

In his first public feedback since being noticed with Swift on his weekly podcast New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce Offered by Wave Sports activities + Leisure, Kelce shared that “it’s my private life and I wanna respect each of our lives,” including that he’ll be returning his focus to purely NFL-related content material on future podcast episodes.

“I do know I introduced all this consideration to me. Proper, I’m the one — I did the entire friendship bracelet factor and informed everyone how butt damage I used to be that I didn’t get to fulfill Taylor.”

Kelce addressed the fan frenzy round him and Swift once more throughout a group press convention on Friday, saying that he is “studying” easy methods to navigate “paparazzi simply taking images from all over” after photographers have begun ready for him at his Kansas Metropolis house.

Kelce added that he understands it is all a part of the territory that comes with Swift’s degree of fame. “On the identical time, it comes with it. It comes with it. You have obtained lots of people that care about Taylor, and for good cause.”

Going ahead, the NFL star stated he is “simply obtained to maintain residing and studying and having fun with the moments” as he and Swift take pleasure in attending to know each other on a public stage.

Kelce additionally assured reporters that the potential romance with Swift will not turn into a distraction for him throughout the NFL season. “On the finish of the day, I’ve all the time been fairly good about compartmentalizing and with the ability to keep targeted on this constructing, so I am going to simply hold rolling with that,” he stated.