Taylor Swift’s surprise appearance on the New Heights podcast in August was a massive hit. The episode broke multiple records and was a fan-favorite. However, not everyone was a fan. Skip Bayless and his wife, Ernestine, were especially salty (for some reason).
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On Skip Bayless’s YouTube show (where Ernestine regularly makes an appearance), the couple aired some of their issues with the podcast episode. But their complaints didn’t just end there. No, no, Ernestine seemed especially miffed with Taylor’s appearances at Chiefs games.
“If they win, it’s because of her. They lose, it’s because of her,” Ernestine said, pointing to the way broadcasts frame Swift as central to Kansas City’s fortunes.
“I just, I don’t know about anybody else, but isn’t anybody else sick of it?…It’s like this is bigger than football. It really is. Now the focus is more on them as opposed to football. I don’t know why this keeps going.”
The total of 14 seconds of screen time Swift got during the Super Bowl seems to have really marred Ernestine’s football viewing pleasure.
While Ernestine was busy lamenting the state of affairs of football coverage on TV, Skip Bayless zeroed in on Kelce himself. For Bayless, the issue isn’t just the media circus; it’s that Kelce hasn’t been backing up his swagger with elite-level play.
“I saw a clip from his podcast where he goes, ‘we’re gonna f-ing do this, f-ing do that,’ and now he talks a better game than he plays,” Bayless recently said on The Arena ahead of the Chiefs’ game against the Eagles.
“He had one catch in the first half in Brazil, and then they tricked him on another play. Travis Kelce is going to have to rise and shine if they want to beat the Eagles… Travis Kelce’s got to put his money where his mouth is.”
Kelce admittedly had a dismal showing in Brazil and must be glad his finacé wasnt there to witness all that in person.
The Chiefs opened the 2025 season in São Paulo, Brazil, with another setback, falling 27-21 to division rival Los Angeles Chargers. Combined with February’s Super Bowl defeat, Kansas City is now staring at consecutive losses, while Justin Herbert turned in one of the finest performances of his career to lead L.A. to victory.
For Travis Kelce, it was a night that said as much about what he didn’t do as what he did. Until deep in the fourth quarter, his most memorable involvement wasn’t a highlight but a mishap: colliding with rookie wideout Xavier Worthy on the third snap of the game. Worthy left with a shoulder injury and never came back.
Kelce’s impact was so minimal that his lone contribution through three quarters might have been drawing a flag. Early in the second half, he took a shot to the helmet from Chargers defensive tackle Teair Tart, gifting Kansas City nine yards. Patrick Mahomes capitalized immediately with a rushing touchdown to pull the Chiefs back within striking distance.
Still, Kelce had just one catch for 10 yards on the stat sheet. Then, finally, with a little over 12 minutes to play, he broke free downfield. Mahomes hit him in stride for a 37-yard touchdown that electrified the Brazilian crowd and swung momentum Kansas City’s way. But only briefly. And it wasn’t enough to help them win.
However, Kansas City now has a chance to flip the narrative this Sunday, when they return to Arrowhead for their home opener for a Super Bowl rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles. Will Kelce be able to “put his money where his mouth is?”
