Sunday’s AFC Championship Game features two great teams and perhaps the NFL’s two best quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, playing for a berth in the Super Bowl.
But the featured attraction will be cheering from a luxury suite.
The popularity of NFL celebrity couples can’t be understated. With international recording superstar Taylor Swift attending every game of her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Chiefs games have shattered all NFL TV viewership records for non-Super Bowl games, and Sunday’s game — especially given the magnitude — is expected to do the same.
The Chiefs have attracted millions of new fans — “Swifties” who tune in to watch the frequent cutaways to Swift’s luxury suite, where there’s often more activity than there is on the playing field. Every Kelce touchdown becomes a Swift-led celebration, typically with Kelce’s mother, Donna Kelce, and Mahomes’ wife, Brittany.
Among the NFL celebrity couples in recent memory, none can compare to the Kelce-Swift romance in terms of attention-grabbing appeal. Below are a total of 12 relationships, both past and present, many of them bringing together the sports and entertainment worlds. They are listed in no particular order — except for the first one.
Related: WATCH: Taylor Swift celebrating Travis Kelce TD is as wholesome as it gets
Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift
Before the public was aware, because they kept it hidden, Kelce and Swift began dating shortly after Kelce “very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,” Swift said. It didn’t take long for Swift, Time’s 2023 Person of the Year, and the Super Bowl champion tight end to start seeing each other.
By the time Swift was spotted at a Chiefs game, where she has become a regular, the 12-time Grammy winner said they were already “a couple.” Before Swift, Kelce dated Maya Banberry, the winner of his reality dating show, “Catching Kelce”, and Kayla Nicole Brown, a social media influencer.
Meanwhile, Swift has dated Joe Jonas, Harry Styles, John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Tom Hiddleston, among others.
Jonathan Owens/Simone Biles
Biles, arguably the greatest gymnast of all time, and Owens, who plays safety for the Green Bay Packers, met just before the pandemic on a dating app and got married three years later. Biles is a six-time world champion who has won seven Olympic medals, tied with Shannon Miller for the most among American gymnasts. Owens, who just completed his fifth NFL season, was third on the Packers in tackles.
Aaron Rodgers/Danica Patrick
Rodgers, a four-time NFL Most Valuable Player, dated Patrick, the former race car driver, for two years before they split in 2020. Before Patrick, the New York Jets was in a relationship with actress Olivia Munn for three years. He was later engaged actress Shailene Woodley, but they called off their engagement in early 2022. Before Rodgers, Patrick, the only woman to win an IndyCar Series race, was previously married to Paul Hospenthal for eight years and dated NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Tom Brady/Gisele Bundchen
After dating actress Bridget Moynahan, with whom he had his first child, Brady began dating Bundchen, a Brazilian model, in late 2006. They got married in 2009 and had two children. There was speculation about their relationship when the seven-time Super Bowl champion retired from the NFL in early 2022 and then unretired only 40 days later to play one more season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Late in 2022, the couple announced they had gotten divorced.
Russell Wilson/Ciara
Wilson and Ciara met at a basketball game at the University of Wisconsin in 2015 and then began dating. They were engaged the following year and then got married in England. The Denver Broncos quarterback and the popular recording artist have had three children together, with the last one being born in December. Before meeting Wilson, Ciara had a child with rapper Future.
Reggie Bush/Kim Kardashian
Bush and Kardashian started dating in 2007 after meeting at the ESPY Awards. The ex-NFL running back and the billionaire reality show star broke it off in 2009, before trying again for a brief time in 2010. After they split, Kardashian married former NBA player Kris Humphries, a marriage that lasted only 72 days.
She later got together with rapper Kanye West, whom she married in 2014. The couple has four children together, but divorced in late 2022. Meanwhile, Bush, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2005 but forfeited it after an NCAA investigation, was linked to country singer Jessie James before marrying and having three children with Armenian dancer Lilit Avagyan.
Jason Sehorn/Angie Harmon
The former NFL cornerback, who was briefly married to former CNN correspondent Whitney Casey, proposed to the actress on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” and the couple got married in 2001. They had three children together before separating in 2014 and then getting divorced in 2015. Sehorn married Meghann Gunderman in 2017, while Harmon, who starred in “Law and Order” and “Rizzoli & Isles,” was later engaged to actor Greg Vaughan.
Rodney Peete/Holly Robinson Peete
The former NFL quarterback proposed to the actress during an episode of “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper.” They got married in 1995 and have had four children. Rodney Peete, an All-American while at USC, was drafted in 1989 and played with six NFL teams in 16 seasons. In addition to “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper,” Robinson Peete is best known for roles in “21 Jump Street” and “For Your Love,” and as an original co-host of the CBS daytime talk show “The Talk.”
Jerramy Stevens/Hope Solo
The former NFL tight end and the former goalkeeper of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, who both attended the University of Washington at the same time, got married in 2012, although Stevens was arrested for allegedly assaulting Solo the day before the wedding. Stevens played 10 seasons in the NFL with two teams, while Solo won one World Cup and two Olympic gold medals from 2010-16.
Josh Allen/Hailee Steinfeld
The Buffalo Bills quarterback, whose NFL season ended last weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs, began dating the actress last May, and they were spotted numerous times together last offseason. Steinfield, who attended Allen’s wild-card playoff game but not the Chiefs game, was nominated for a best-supporting-actress Oscar for her work in the film “True Grit.” She was also nominated for a Golden Globe award for her role in the drama, “The Edge of Seventeen.”
Christian McCaffrey/Olivia Culpo
The San Francisco 49ers running back and the former Miss Universe began dating in 2019 and became engaged in April 2023. Culpo, who has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, has been a fixture at 49ers games and at Carolina Panthers games before McCaffrey, the NFL leader in rushing and touchdowns, was traded to the 49ers, who play in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.
Tony Romo/Jessica Simpson
The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback had a nearly two-year relationship with the singer and actress, who was married to Nick Lachey, with whom she starred on an MTV reality series. When she and Romo began dating in 2007, Cowboys fans blamed Simpson for Romo’s poor performance. They reportedly broke up the night before her 29th birthday in 2009.
In 2011, Romo, now a NFL color analyst for CBS, married Candice Crawford, a former Miss Missouri and journalist, with whom he has three sons. Simpson, who also dated singer John Mayer before Romo, married former NFL tight end Eric Johnson in 2014, and the couple now has three children.