Taylor Swift’s romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has had the internet aflame for months now. Even the food world is fixated on their courtship, with everyone watching what Swift dips her chicken in (ketchup and “seemingly ranch”) while watching Kelce play football.
But Swift isn’t the only one getting all of the attention. Kelce’s mother, Donna, has teamed up with Papa Johns to create a bundle of two pizzas, one representing Kansas City (BBQ Chicken) and one representing Philadelphia (Philly Cheesesteak, naturally)—a cheeky nod to the fact that Travis’ brother, Jason, also plays in the NFL, as a center for the Eagles.
But now Travis Kelce himself is in the internet spotlight: Thanks to his new level of mainstream fame amidst his relationship with Swift, users on X have dug up old posts from back when Kelce was in college. Fortunately for him, they’re mostly just silly glimpses of a young athlete’s stray thoughts—many of which are about food.
Travis Kelce’s best tweets about restaurants and food
Of Kelce’s many recently resurfaced tweets—I mean, X posts—my favorite is about, of all places, IHOP.
Apparently Kelce was a big fan of the International House of Pancakes back in 2010. “I HOP!!!!!!” reads one post. “I love commin here for breakfast! Ummm I think ill have the T-bone steak n Eggs please! Haha with some white toast on the side!”
I know plenty of you will probably fixate on the fact that his spelling is, shall we say, creative. But hey, as long as we can decipher what he’s saying, we’re good.
Also, the guy is a fan of the classic diner T-bone and egg combination, along with white toast—a protein-heavy meal more than appropriate for an athlete.
And Kelce doesn’t listen to people when they tell him not to feed the animals. In 2011, he posted, “I just gave a squirle a peice of bread and it straight smashed all of it!!!! I had no idea they ate bread like that!! Haha #crazy.”
Don’t feed the squirles any peices of bread, Kelce, or they’ll keep coming back to haunt you.
Kelce is a big fan of chain restaurants, too. One post from 2011 says, “Went from class to therapy, now I need some #chipolte and then I’m off to check out my new apt!!” Gotta admire a person who engages in self-care and burritos in equal measure.
Chipotle, of course, noticed the (misspelled) love; the official Chipotle account retweeted the old post, adding, “it’s me, hi,” in reference to the lyrics from Swift’s song “Anti-Hero.”
The brand went even further, noticing Kelce’s repeated misspelling of its name, and even changed a Kansas City location’s sign to read “Chipolte,” which I presume won’t stay like that forever—but then again, the Swiftie influence runs deep.
There are a bunch more posts to be discovered on Kelce’s timeline, including one about Olive Garden (Kelce is a fan of the “Fettucini with the Chicken Alfredo.” And he loves himself some Taco Bell, as he posted one night saying “Bout to get some Taco Bell!!! then hit everyone up, n see whats poppin tonight.” I suddenly miss everything about my college days.
I’m not sure Kelce ever saw himself as becoming a food influencer, but if his football career and relationship with Swift don’t pan out, you never know. Never say never. He certainly is relatable in these posts, because I do love me some Taco Bell. Who knew that I’d ever have anything in common with an NFL player?