Ahead of Sunday night’s prime-time matchup between the New York Jets and the Kansas City Chiefs, the dialogue is centered on Grammy Award-winning superstar Taylor Swift likely being in attendance at MetLife Stadium. Swift made headlines last week when she attended the Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears from GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., presumably to support tight end Travis Kelce.
Rumors have percolated over the last several weeks and suggested that the duo has entered a relationship. Moreover, documented photographs and videos are being interpreted by many fans as supporting such a conclusion. With Swift expected to be in the building on Sunday night, NBC Sports will likely have a camera on the suite she is in throughout the game to capture her reactions and appeal to the audience.
For the Jets, however, this game is of pivotal importance considering the lackluster 1-2 start and injury to new quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Third-year quarterback Zach Wilson has been thrust into a difficult situation and seems to be struggling under the circumstances presented before him, along with subpar performances by the offensive line. In facing the defending Super Bowl champions with momentum behind the team both on and off the field, Giannotti delivered a soliloquy trying to encourage the group to block out the outside noise.
“I can’t imagine going into this season with all the hype and how exciting as it was, and now the questions that they have to answer are Aaron Rodgers and what he says in Malibu on The Pat McAfee Show and, ‘What do you think about Taylor Swift coming to the game because she’s dating Travis Kelce?,’” Giannotti said Thursday morning on WFAN. “If this doesn’t pull out a demon inside of you on Sunday night and play possessed, nothing will, really. This is either going to make you or break you.”
Giannotti understands the mounting pressure facing “Gang Green” as the team looks to avoid a complete collapse of the season just several weeks in. The Jets are trying to snap a 12-year playoff drought, the longest such stretch in the NFL, and have had a challenging schedule to open the season.
“If you get steamrolled on national TV in your building, then forget it,” Giannotti articulated. “No one’s going to take you seriously anymore, especially under these circumstances.”
The crowd at MetLife Stadium is expected to be at or near capacity, with recent data demonstrating rising ticket prices – including for seats in close proximity of the suite level – because of Swift’s presence. StubHub reported that the Jets sold more than double the amount of tickets sold in a single day than any other day during the season, while Vivid Seats shared that traffic for the game increased by 173%. With Boomer & Gio discussing networks trying to flex the Jets out of scheduled prime-time games in an effort to televise more compelling matchups, they affirmed that it is up to the team to prevent that from happening.
“I think if you’re Zach Wilson, you’ve just got to shake it off,” co-host Boomer Esiason said, referring to the quarterback’s struggles in Week 3 against the New England Patriots. “You’ve got to become the anti-hero.”
Esiason was interpolating titles of Swift’s songs into everyday discourse, leading Giannotti to take a moment of pause on the show. Even though he is a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, the inordinate amount of coverage centered on the alleged relationship between the award-winning musician and two-time Super Bowl champion tight end is leading him to become perturbed and exasperated by the league.
“Deep breaths in, deep breaths out,” Giannotti uttered. “I can’t take it anymore. I’m not even a Jets fan – I can’t even imagine what [Brandon] Tierney’s feeling; what Joe [Benigno] is feeling.”
