Risky business

I’m about to offer up a couple of opinions which I know, given the supercharged nature of the subject in these fraught times may be as controversial and as risk-laden as any I’ve ever offered. And I’ve offered a lot.

I know, I know. “Why take the chance?” you say. “Why poke the collective bear and turn it into an enraged grizzly? What exactly were you thinking?”

And the only answer I can come up with is that, for some of us, bold stands on critical issues is the only way we know how to live. And also, for some of us, not thinking before we do something is the only way we know how to live. In my case, probably a lot more of the latter and a lot less of the former.

So, with that groundwork successfully laid, here are my bold, risk-laden opinions.

Taylor Swift isn’t saving the NFL or making Travis Kelce’s career. And she’s certainly not damaging either one.

Yes, I know. Dangerous waters to be swimming in here. In two sentences, I’ve risked offending fans of Swift, fans of the NFL and people who are just really tired of hearing about either one. Sometimes you just have to live life on the edge.

And by “edge,” at least in this case, I mean either the collision or overlap of two wildly successful enterprises. The NFL is a financial colossus, pulling in $18.6 billion annually, $12 billion from various networks for the rights to show their games. Swift is, on the other hand, a far prettier and significantly less sweaty colossus, grossing $2 billion, $1 billion from her current “Eras” tour, as well.

Now the actual collision of these two money-making machines comes at that point at which Swift began dating Kelce, an outstanding tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, one of the NFL’s best teams. Which led to a perceptible uptick in interest in the Chiefs by people who, shall we say, heretofore had little interest in the game and potentially thought a tight end was a physical description and not the name of a position.

I can explain to you what a tight end is. I can also explain to you that it was von Blucher’s charge that actually won the Battle of Waterloo. You would likely leave both conversations not much wiser about the topic and not particularly happy the conversations had even taken place. Some knowledge is very specific and best kept to oneself.

Under normal circumstances, the Swift-Kelce linkage would be treated with lots of sighs and “well isn’t that sweet/best of lucks.” But these are hardly normal circumstances and it appears just about everything, including the rising of the sun, divides us into warring camps.

So there are those out there who would contend Kelce and the Chiefs have been distracted by Swift. This is because brain surgeons, nuclear physicists and airline pilots can all compartmentalize their private lives but football players can’t. And in spite of the fact Kelce has had a very good season and the Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl for the third time in four years.

There are also those who contend Swift’s presence at games and the resultant media attention is distracting from the actual competition — which typically consists of about 15-20 minutes of activity and an additional two hours and 40 minutes of Chiefs coach Andy Reid glaring over his mustache.

And there are those who contend that Swift’s presence has elevated a sport which has virtually consumed every weekend and Monday and Thursday nights from September through February and whose championship game has become so widely watched and celebrated that there is actual consideration of declaring the Monday after the Super Bowl a national holiday. I mean, that’s an almost $19 billion needle. Tough to move it, regardless of how many Grammys you’ve won. And at one point, prior to his even meeting Swift, I was pretty sure Kelce was in every commercial I saw.

So here’s the thing about risky opinions. It’s likely they’re not wrong, but they are usually exaggerated. And there is a significant difference between something just being and it being good, bad or impactful.

And if you’re looking for another opinion, Brock Purdy, the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, who will face the Chiefs in this Sunday’s Super Bowl, was the absolute last player taken in the 2022 draft.

So maybe those NFL guys aren’t that terribly smart after all.