NFL-Kelce aims to match Swift's energy at Super Bowl

By Rory Carroll

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Travis Kelce said he will need to channel the world-conquering spirit of girlfriend Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl if he is going to help the Chiefs to an unprecedented third straight title on Sunday.

The All-Pro tight end and the pop megastar have been highly supportive of each other since they began dating last year, with Swift enthusiastically supporting the Chiefs from the stands and Kelce appearing on stage in London last June during Swift's record-shattering Eras Tour.

"I better hold up my end of the bargain, right?" Kelce told reporters in New Orleans on Monday.

"If she's out here being the superstar she is, never taking no for an answer and always working her tail off, I better match that energy for sure."

While the couple's trades differ, their workplaces often overlap.

Swift performed at New Orleans' Superdome, the site of the NFL's championship game this year, three times in October on the Eras tour.

Kelce and the Chiefs, meanwhile, are looking to become the first NFL team to "three-peat" as Super Bowl champions on that very same field with a win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the title showdown.

Kelce said the duo's rise to the pinnacle of their respective fields is no cosmic accident but rather something they have willed into existence.

"I think we both love to manifest things," he said.

"You can't say it's not real because we're here, right?"

Intrigue around the Pennsylvania-born Swift's team loyalty in the Super Bowl has grown since Philadelphia reached the title game but Kelce said he had no doubt where her allegiance would be come Sunday.

"I know her father is an Eagles fan," he said.

"She'll be all for the Chiefs this time around for sure."

While the fun-loving Kelce was happy to engage with reporters in the circus-like spectacle that is the NFL's Opening Night for the media, he shut down any questions about his future romantic plans, including a possible marriage proposal.

"Next question," he said to one reporter who asked about what was next for him and Swift.

A reporter who tried to follow up was met with equal resistance.

"Man, back-to-back? You guys are crazy," he said flatly.

(Additional reporting by Amy Tennery in New Orleans; Editing by Kate Mayberry)