Travis Kelce Reveals That He & Taylor Swift Are 'Happy' Even When Things Are 'Challenging'

Prior to the start of this NFL season, Travis Kelce was already one of the biggest names in the game. He's widely considered one of the best tight ends in the game's history, he's been part of two Super Bowl wins with the Kansas City Chiefs, and he's considered a lock for a future NFL Hall of Fame spot. As anyone who has watched TV knows, he's also one of the leading players when it comes to having endorsement deals and commercial spots. He wasn't, however, anywhere close to being as famous as Taylor Swift.

In the months since Taylor and Travis went public with their relationship, the media and fans alike have had a lot to say about the pair. Some of that conversation has been very positive (Swifties love Travis!) and some of it has been sexist and critical, claiming that somehow Taylor is ruining football for real fans and that she's a distraction for Travis and the rest of the Chiefs team. On Friday, Travis used his time at the Chiefs press conference to shut down those critics and to talk about how he and Taylor are navigating their relationship amidst all the hype.

Taylor and Travis 'can't listen to the outside noise.'

Travis took to the podium during one of the regularly scheduled pregame press conferences for the Chiefs and was immediately asked to comment about his rising fame since he started dating Taylor this summer. Travis acknowledged that it would "be silly" to pretend he hasn't had more attention lately but also reminded the media that he's still the focused and committed team player that he's always been.

"You hear the media throughout the year if we’re not having success, you know, maybe throw it out there that I wasn't focused or that the team isn’t focused on certain things, and if you're in this building, you know exactly what’s going on," he remarked. "So, you gotta compartmentalize what you're hearing and make sure that you're staying on task, and giving everybody in the building and on that team the right perception."

Talk to moms about mom stuff. And make money doing it.

'I brought this upon myself,' he said.

Since his relationship with Taylor became public, Travis has always been careful to not blame the singer and Time magazine Person of the Year for the increased media scrutiny.

In his November interview with Wall Street Journal, Travis explained that he wasn't going to be "running away from" all of the attention that comes with dating Taylor and that "the scrutiny she gets, how much she has a magnifying glass on her, every single day, paparazzi outside her house, outside every restaurant she goes to, after every flight she gets off, and she’s just living, enjoying life. When she acts like that I better not be the one acting all strange."

During the press conference on Friday, he once again acknowledged that he wasn't naive about what dating such a famous person might involve, noting that "I brought this upon myself, and I do enjoy having fun with it all, and the biggest thing is making sure my focus is right here in this building."

Elsa/Getty Images, Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

Travis was also specifically asked if he and Taylor had discussed the amount of media attention they were getting.

No matter what the couple does, they are likely to get media attention, but Travis shared with the media that he and Taylor are able to compartmentalize the chatter as "outside noise" and to focus on their feelings for each other. He explained that "As long as we’re happy, we can't listen to anything that's outside noise. That's all that matters."

Taylor is expected to attend Sunday's game between the Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens. Travis's brother Jason, who was probably a much bigger distraction (in a fun way!) for fans at the last game, thanks to his shirtless antics following a Travis touchdown, will also be at the game again. Jason's wife, Kylie, confirmed to Good Morning America that the duo will be there to cheer Travis on as the Chiefs try to return to the Super Bowl.

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