New York is still waitin’ for you, Taylor Swift.
Swifties were waiting for the singer to appear at MetLife Stadium to watch her fiancé Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs face the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football.
There was a Taylor in attendance, just not the one they were expecting.
Before the start of the second quarter, the stadium’s video board displayed a “Taylor Cam” while playing Swift’s hit “Welcome to New York.” The camera panned through the crowd and ultimately stopped on Giants’ legend Lawrence Taylor, who was sitting in the stands smoking a cigar.
“They had their Tay Tay Cam going, everybody’s thinking they were running around looking for Taylor Swift,” said NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth. “First thing on the jumbotron? Lawrence Taylor.”
“They were playing Taylor Swift’s song ‘Welcome to New York’ and everybody’s like, ‘Oh, is she here?’” added play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico. “We haven’t seen her, we don’t think she’s here. But Swifties, hang on. Hang with us through the night, it’s your favorite team.”
Call it “Welcome to New York (Lawrence Taylor’s version).”
NBC promoted the game with a Swift-inspired post on social media referencing the 14-time Grammy winner’s upcoming album release “The Life of a Showgirl.”
Swift, last week, reportedly attended the Chiefs’ home opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, the first NFL game she attended since the couple got engaged in August. If she was indeed in the building, she kept a low profile during the Super Bowl rematch and was not shown entering the stadium or on the game broadcast.
Swift received plenty of screen time during the last game she attended at MetLife Stadium in October 2023 when the Chiefs played the New York Jets, shortly after the couple went public with their relationship. NBC at the time released a promo for the Sunday Night Football matchup using the song “Welcome to New York.”
Swift sat in a luxury suite at the 50-yard line with celebrity friends Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and others.
Following the Chiefs’ win over the Jets, Travis Kelce departs MetLife stadium without Taylor Swift. Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively don’t leave until meeting up with Patrick Mahomes.
Swift has since been a regular at Chiefs’ games to show support for her future husband, including consecutive appearances at the Super Bowl.
The chances of Kelce and the Chiefs getting back to the big game could be in jeopardy if the team loses to the Giants on Sunday. The Chiefs entered the game having started 0-2, and only six teams in NFL history have ever lost their first three games and still made the postseason, according to NBC Sports research.
Swift, of course, could still return as the Super Bowl halftime show. Back in August after her appearance on the Kelce brothers’ “New Heights” podcast, eagle-eyed Swifties were quick to speculate that Swift’s off-handed comment about talking about bread “60% of the time now,” was a subtle nod to a possible Super Bowl LX performance.
“We would always love to have Taylor play,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told TODAY earlier this month. “She is a special, special talent, and obviously she would be welcome at any time.”
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