Sports analyst Stephen A. Smith is speaking out regarding the backlash Taylor Swift has received for the way the Kansas City Chiefs have been playing.
The pop icon has been slammed by NFL fans for being the “reason” the Chiefs team, and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, have not been playing as well as they did last year.
Stephen A. Smith has backed Taylor Swift in the past when she first started making appearances at Kansas City Chiefs games to cheer on Travis Kelce.
“She could do a lot worse, too,” he said at the time. “Travis Kelce is a good brother man. I love me some Travis Kelce.”
The analyst continued, “That’s his business. I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t ask those questions, but Travis Kelce is good people. That’s my brother from another mother. That’s a good man and anything that makes Travis Kelce happy, I am a supporter.”
Now, the sports analyst is addressing the Taylor Swift backlash from NFL fans again as the playoffs are just around the corner.
Stephen A. Smith Backs Taylor Swift Amid Criticism
“I have to take a moment to come to the defense of Taylor Swift,” Stephen A. Smith said while appearing on Mad Dog’s A-List segment on ESPN. “Everybody’s sitting up there and acting like she’s some kind of impediment.”
Taylor Swift has said in the past that she is unaware of when the camera is on her during NFL games, and she is just there to support her boyfriend, Travis Kelce. “I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and p—ing off a few dads, Brads, and Chads,” she said of the backlash she’s received from NFL fans thus far.
The sports analyst commented on her statement, claiming, “Excuse me, she did her job! That Eras Tour? Off the chain. Generated billions. She’s going to support her dude. To show up at a football game and the cameras are on her — that ain’t her fault!”
“And excuse me, by the way, she went to the games after the concerts,” he continued. “It’s not like she used the games to bump up the concerts.”
Smith then added how fans are just trying to find excuses so that they can “hate” Taylor Swift. “Those kids were going to her concerts whether the NFL was promoting her or not! Taylor Swift is that girl. Let’s show some respect,” he said.
“She probably is gonna have a positive on Travis Kelce’s performance, OK? I’m not trying to disrespect Taylor Swift,” the sports analyst concluded with.
Other Sports Stars Stand Up For Taylor Swift Amid Backlash
Stephen A. Smith is by far the only sports analyst to defend the pop icon.
“Do not blame Taylor Swift for being a ‘distraction,’ for Travis Kelce not playing well, for the Chiefs playing good…No, it is not her fault,” analyst Elle Duncan on her podcast, ‘The Elle Duncan Show’ last month.
Even former NFL stars are speaking out in Taylor’s defense, including Merril Hoge, who stated, “It’s irrelevant. That’s a media twist. That’s actually just to tell you how weak and stupid media is and people are.”
Adding that Taylor “has nothing to do with the locker room and “somebody who sings songs has zero to do with” the way the Chiefs have been playing.
Hoge then played devil’s advocate, stating, “Her greatness and brilliance, that’d be like her not having a successful album and saying ‘Travis Kelce is because she didn’t have a successful album’. It has nothing to do with it. She has nothing to do with where they are right now.”
Plus, Gracie Hunt, the daughter of Kansas City Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt, has said that Taylor is “wonderful” and loves that she is coming to the Chiefs games.
The Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Miami Dolphins in the NFL Wild Card Round on Saturday, January 13.
