Hey, football fans. You’re more like Taylor Swift and her Swifties than you think

Everyone seems to have their attention on global performer Taylor Swift and Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce. It’s the merging of two major fandoms, after all: football fans and Swifties.

I gave Taylor fans a basic explanation of of football rules, but now it’s time to flip the field. Here’s your guide to Taylor Swift and her fans for my football friends.

Spoiler alert: There are actually a lot of similarities between the two groups.

I mean, she wrote the lyrics, “I passed the pictures around / of all the years that we stood there on the sidelines wishing for right now. We are the kings and the queens / you traded your baseball cap for a crown, when they gave us our trophies, and we held them up for our town.”

She gets it, and now y’all will, too.

Who is Taylor Swift?

Most football fans know the name and have heard some of her singles, but they don’t necessarily understand the hype.

Taylor Swift is the Tom Brady of the music industry; someone incredibly talented and successful that people either love or hate. There are few in between. Even the fans who don’t consider themselves Brady fans can appreciate what he’s done for the sport.

Brady’s resume includes the most: games won (251), championships won (7), career touchdown passes (649), regular season passing yards (89,214), total yards (102,614), playoff wins (35), Super Bowl appearances (10) and Super Bowl MVPs (5).

Taylor’s career includes records with similar significance for the industry. She owns the record for the most: No. 1 records by a woman (12), No. 1 records in consecutive years (5), Grammys for Album of the Year by a woman (3), highest grossing tour of all time ($1 billion-plus), vinyl copies sold in 2022 (575,000), albums with 1 million units sold in one week (5), most monthly listeners for a woman on Spotify (100 million). You get the idea. They’re both the GOAT.

What is a Swiftie?

As the name implies, these are Taylor Swift fans – notably the more passionate, knowledgeable or longtime ones. Casual listeners may not categorize themselves here.

I’ve listened to her music since her debut album dropped in 2006. My younger sister co-founded the University of Oklahoma Taylor Swift fan club. My best friend is deep into Taylor Twitter and Tiktok.

We could easily be compared to hardcore football fans, who are willing to do just about anything to see their team, will defend it, have strong opinions, and – in more extreme cases – end or begin relationships over it.

How are Swifties and football fans alike?

Not all football fans are Swifties and not all Swifties are football fans, but there’s a bigger overlap than many expect. That’s because of the culture.

Football fans – and players – are seen as dumb, boneheaded jocks. They get excited about running around a field with a ball and hitting each other. That’s reductionist to the sport and everything that comes with it, right?

So many people have fond memories playing football with their dad, uncle or brother in the front yard. They might have grown up in families that watched football on Thanksgiving or hosted Super Bowl parties.

As fans, we have our favorite players, coaches, teams, tailgating foods. There are plenty of fans who get deep into conspiracies and rumors about injuries, trades, recruits and the NCAA transfer portal. We might have merch and will spend hours in the rain, snow and sweltering heat to see our team. The truest fans stick it out through the good, bad and everything in-between. (I see you N.C. State Wolfpack fans.)

Football teaches life lessons in leadership, toughness, compassion and accountability. It brings people of various backgrounds together for a common goal and common love. The sport often provides a platform for people to make a positive difference in their communities.

It can help us heal or remember loved ones. My dad died when I was 10.

I remember going to football games with my parents back in Oklahoma when I was a toddler. My brother was in the marching band. I even participated with the pom team for one of their community events. I cry thinking of those fall nights when he’d hold me on his shoulders and how special those moments were.

Football can take our mind off of daily stress or enhance positive stretches in our lives. The 2019 OU/Iowa State game was a date for my now-husband and I. Longtime fans take their children to games, getting to experience that full circle aspect.

Their love of the sport might’ve led them into playing or coaching careers. For those of us who weren’t that athletic or are women, we’ve transitioned the love of sports into jobs in media or working with teams. Football runs deep.

Swifties are the same way. We, and the artist we love, are often viewed through the lens of “Shake it Off” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Basic, reductionist and not particularly impactful.

First of all, Taylor has lyrics like, “Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room. Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home. Remember the footsteps, remember the words said and all your little brother’s favorite songs. I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone,” or “I made you my temple, my mural my sky. Now, I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life.”

It’s hard to deny that those are deeper than “Players’ gonna play.” Even if her songwriting wasn’t highly regarded by other musical icons, her songs – like football for many – can still teach us how to love, how to forgive, how to stand up for ourselves, how to be resilient, and how to grieve.

Taylor released her self-titled album about three months before my dad died. He was sick at the time. “A Place in this World,” “The Outside” and “Tied Together with a Smile” helped me feel less alone when we lost him.

Her “Fearless,” “Speak Now” and “Red” albums put words to my most formative years in middle and high school. It was the soundtrack to college, every major career move and getting married. That sounds like a lot of feelings and experiences football fans have, doesn’t it?

Country singer Alana Springsteen describes it perfectly: “Those save me songs are still spinning ‘round in that player 10 years later. They’re like home / they’re almost a part of me.”

Plus, there is the more fun side. We may read conspiracy theories about new music releases, Taylor’s dating life, buy the merch, make our own, and analyze her lyrics. I pulled over on the side of the road when I had the opportunity to buy Eras Tour tickets, the same way one might do it for a big game. The N&O pushed back my start date, so I could attend the show in Denver.

Truthfully, there’s a reason so many football reporters are Swifties. The cultural similarities are almost hardwired into our brains, and that’s something special.

So if you’re a football fan finding yourself annoyed or confused by Swifties, here’s your reminder that we’re all pretty similar and their interest grows the sport. Maybe we’ll make you some football-related friendship bracelets, too.