Erin Andrews embraces role in Travis Kelce's relationship with Taylor Swift

Longtime sports reporter Erin Andrews isn’t taking complete credit for this newfound romance between Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and pop star Taylor Swift, but she did play some role in their first date. She and Calm Down podcast co-host Charissa Thompson made a plea to the music sensation during an episode.

Andrews joined TODAY on Tuesday and talked about the highly-covered relationship. A few months ago, she and Thompson made the comment that Swift should give Kelce a “chance.” She discussed how everything unfolded.

“Travis had gone to the Eras Tour, her concert, and I guess wanted to meet her,” Andrews explained. “He made a bracelet with his phone number on it. And … I don’t know what happened, they didn’t meet up. He made a plea on his podcast that he’d like to meet her.

“So, I saw it. I’m a huge fan of him, work with him, he’s great. … Taylor, I don’t really know who she’s dated except for what we’ve seen publicly, give our friend a try.”

Shortly after, Swift attended the Chiefs-Bears game as a guest of Kelce. Kansas City cruised to a 41-10 victory with the tight end hauling in seven catches for 69 yards and a touchdown.

We’re catching up with @ErinAndrews!

She’s opening up about her journey from IVF into motherhood with help from a surrogate, mom guilt, and even spills the story behind “setting up” Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift — and *that* Chiefs jacket. pic.twitter.com/bDKksLaPnu

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 17, 2023

While Andrews made the plea to Swift during the podcast, she said it was not something Kelce knew about.

“He did not ask us at all,” she said.

Swift has attended three games to see Kelce and the Chiefs in action. She made the trip to New York to see Kansas City play the Jets at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 1. She then was in attendance for last Thursday’s 19-8 win over the Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium.

NFL defends coverage of Taylor Swift

Each time Swift has attended one of Kelce’s games, there’s been an overwhelming amount of coverage. So, after plenty of comments, the NFL decided to release a statement regarding the matter.

“We frequently change our bios and profile imagery based on what’s happening in and around our games, as well as culturally,” the NFL told PEOPLE. “The Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce news has been a pop cultural moment we’ve leaned into in real time, as it’s an intersection of sport and entertainment, and we’ve seen an incredible amount of positivity around the sport.

“The vast majority of our content has remained focused on the game, our players and variety of other initiatives, including our Toy Story Funday Football alt-cast, the international games and more.”

As long as Swift continues attending Chiefs games, the NFL will keep covering it.