Taylor Swift didn’t put Travis Kelce on the map, according to his longtime managers.
André and Aaron Eanes shared in a new interview that they had a game plan for handling the NFL star’s rising fame long before his relationship with the pop star.
“People say to me, ‘Man, it’s been a crazy year,’” Aaron told the New York Times in a profile published Tuesday. “When I say, ‘Actually, it’s not that crazy,’ people look at me funny. It’s because it’s easy when you have a plan. We’re executing that plan.”
André agreed with his twin brother and business partner, saying they have “positioned Travis to be world famous.”
“We didn’t know how it would happen, or when it would happen, or what would help push that further along. But it’s always been the thought in the back of our minds,” he added.
Despite wild theories circulating on social media, André and Aaron insisted Kelce’s pandemonium-inducing romance with Swift was never a part of the plot.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s newfound fan base of Swifties has allowed him to explore a whole new pool of opportunities, but the Eanes brothers want to make sure their client is not overexposed.
Aaron explained that the growing interest in Kelce, 34, has his team concerned about “oversaturation” and whether fans could “grow numb at the sight of him” with so much airtime.
Therefore, their focus for the next year “revolves around one word: curation. Fewer deals. Quality over quantity. Authenticity first,” the Times reported.
One strategy is going after endorsement deals with companies that traditionally do not partner with football players.
Kelce began promoting Pfizer and Experian “to build out [his] résumé as a stand-alone pitchman, rather than yet another interchangeable player in a commercial for one of the NFL’s partners, capitalizing on a foundation built by the league,” according to the newspaper.
Brand strategist Danielle Salzedo doesn’t think Kelce will struggle to keep up his good graces with fans.
“That ability to continue to evolve what your image is and stay current but still remain elevated, from someone who is already a global star, is something that I think Travis has the ability to do,” she said.
Kelce’s goal of being in the spotlight has been in the works for years — first with a fashion-forward feature in Complex magazine in 2015 and then with his one-season E! reality dating show, “Catching Kelce,” a year later.
The two-time Super Bowl champion’s 2023 appearance on “Saturday Night Live” was not a product of his relationship with Swift, 34, either: Aaron shared that he had contacted the NBC show’s producers during the 2020 season, though their interest was “lukewarm at best” at the time.
That all changed in 2021 when Kelce charmed “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels at an afterparty. Then, the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl last February, and Aaron got a call from “SNL” that night.
After Kelce’s debut on the sketch comedy series, his managers decided he needed some Hollywood heavy-hitters on his management team and turned to Creative Arts Agency.
Despite his escalating fame, those close to Kelce insist he hasn’t changed.
His personal chef and friend since childhood, Kumar Ferguson, said he still drives home-cooked meals to the athlete during practice to have lunch together. His trainer, Alex Skacel, meanwhile, told the Times that Kelce’s dedication to the sport “has never been stronger.”
Kelce and Swift took their love public in September 2023 after secretly dating for a few months.
Trolls have since blamed each of the Chiefs’ losses on the Grammy winner. However, plenty of supporters have defended Swift.
