Before Marquise Brown started learning and analyzing the Chiefs’ playbook, he did the same for a Taylor Swift song.
Brown, on a livestream after he signed a one-year deal with Kansas City, started swaying to “Blank Space,” one of the songs that Swift — the girlfriend of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce — has written throughout her career.
“The beat come out serious,” Brown said in a 45-second clip of the stream, which was posted on X. “Oh, I know this song.”
Brown, whose contract with the Chiefs can reportedly be worth up to $11 million, will join Kelce and Rashee Rice as some of the top options for Patrick Mahomes in the offense next year, as they attempt to win their third consecutive Super Bowl.
The former first-round pick spent the first three years of his career with the Ravens before getting dealt to the Cardinals, where he collected 1,283 receiving yards and seven touchdowns across the past two seasons.
Brown’s best campaign occurred in 2021, when he recorded 1,008 yards and six touchdowns with Lamar Jackson at quarterback.
But after his free agency decision, the 26-year-old will pair with another top quarterback in Mahomes and become a critical piece in the Andy Reid offense — which sputtered and stalled at times in 2023 before figuring everything out in the playoffs.
Brown posted a screenshot of a text exchange with Reid before signing his deal, with the 65-year-old coach writing, “Hollywood, think Red today, KC Red with diamonds!!!”
“Yessir love the sound of that,” Brown typed back, along with heart, ring and rocket emojis scattered throughout his message. “Think Hollywood Brown Lights, Camera, Action.”
And if Swift remains a constant at Chiefs games in 2024, Brown will recognize the tune for at least one of her songs.
Kelce and Swift started dating last summer and emerged as one of the NFL’s prominent storylines in 2023, with Swift attending 13 games — including all four of their postseason victories — and even figuring out logistics to make Super Bowl 2024 in Las Vegas shortly after finishing the Eras Tour shows in Tokyo.
Defensive backs coach Dave Merritt, though, suggested that Swift had attended games even before the broadcast showed her for the first time at Soldier Field for a Chiefs-Bears game.
Since the season ended with the Chiefs defeating the 49ers, Kelce has traveled to Australia and Singapore to watch Swift perform.