Watch: Taylor Swift’s “New Heights” shout out to Travis Kelce, something he “never thought” would work: However, we are present…

Travis Kelce is just as shocked as anyone that his relationship with Taylor Swift took off after his shoutout to the “Karma” singer during a July 2023 episode of his “New Heights” podcast. “I never thought it would have landed.

I didn’t even think it would have landed and I would have got a response from her,” Travis, 34, said during a press conference on Wednesday, February 7, ahead of the Super Bowl. “We’re here and we’re all happy, I know that.” Travis and Taylor, 34, have been an item since the fall of 2023, despite the NFL star failing to make a connection during Taylor’s Eras tour stop in Kansas City.

“I was disappointed that she doesn’t talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings,” he told brother Jason Kelce in July 2023. “So I was a little butthurt that I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her.” Travis continued, “If you’re up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets, and I received a bunch of them being there, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it,” hinting that the bracelet had his phone number on it. Taylor later reacted to the sweet gesture during her interview with TIME after being named Person of the Year in 2023.

“This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,” she told the outlet. “We started hanging out right after that. So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other. By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.”

Taylor and Travis have seemingly blended their schedules effortlessly in the months since, with the “Look What You Made Me Do” artist supporting her boyfriend at a dozen football games since September 2023. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end also traveled south of the equator to witness Taylor’s Eras tour concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during a bye week from football that November.

The latest hurdle for the couple, however, may prove to be the largest yet. Taylor’s Eras tour picked back up in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, February 7, just five days ahead of Super Bowl LVIII. As Swifties grapple with the logistics of the “Mastermind” artist achieving the impossible and making it to Las Vegas in time for Travis’ big game, the Ohio native revealed that Taylor’s main focus is her tour.

“She’s focused on entertaining the crowd [in Tokyo],” he said during Wednesday’s press conference. “She’s just working on entertaining them and making sure she’s ready for her performances and everything, but the Super Bowl we’ll worry about if she can make it.”