Tony Romo was just having some fun.
The CBS analyst explained his decision to consistently reference Taylor Swift as Travis Kelce’s wife during Chiefs games this season.
“It’s a joke,” Romo said during a CBS Sports media session ahead of Super Bowl 2024. “Someone did that to me back in the day. … People come up to me all the time (asking), ‘What do you know?’ People love it and go crazy for it.
“It’s Taylor. She’s just as big a personality as anybody in the world right now. I think it’s a great thing that she’s at football games. I think it just adds value, and I think our team does it the right way. … It just comes out organically.”
Swift has become a staple at Chiefs games this season, attending 12 games — including all three playoff victories — since the couple starting dating at the end of the summer.
“There’s your brother-in-law, right behind you,” Romo said during the AFC Divisional-Round win over the Bills when Swift and Travis’ brother, Eagles center Jason Kelce, were shown in a suite together.
Swift made her first appearance at a Week 3 win over the Bears at Arrowhead Stadium.
Page Six reported that she is expected to attend the Super Bowl in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, even though her Eras Tour picks up again in Tokyo this week.
While some viewers have been weirded out by Romo’s marriage comments, the former Cowboys quarterback and 12-time Grammy winner shared a friendly exchange on the field after the Chiefs beat the Ravens in the AFC Championship game Sunday.
According to Yahoo’s Jori Epstein, who recorded video of the interaction, they complimented each other on their talent.
“We’re doing very different things, aren’t we? It’s a different skill set,” Swift said.
All the networks have faced criticism from fans for the amount of time they spent covering Swift, even though CBS showed her for a grand total of 44 seconds during the AFC title game broadcast.
“I think we’ve done it in a way that has not been intrusive at all,” CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said on Thursday’s conference call, according to Awful Announcing.
Romo, along with play-by-play man Jim Nantz, will be on the call for the Chiefs’ Super Bowl showdown with the 49ers.