The week leading up to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, Nev. has brought many media outlets and professionals to the locale, giving them a chance to speak with players, coaches and other personnel before kickoff. During a press conference on Thursday, WFAN host Danielle McCartan was selected to ask a question to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Throughout the season, Kelce’s relationship with award-winning singer and songwriter Taylor Swift has been prominently in discussion surrounding the team. As a result of speculation regarding Swift’s attendance at the game and overall interest in the relationship, Kelce has had to field numerous questions pertaining to his personal life.
McCartan decided to ask him to finish the lyrics to Swift’s hit single “Karma,” a track on the “Midnights” album that recently won “Album of the Year” and “Pop Vocal Album” at the Grammy Awards, marking her 13th and 14th victories from The Recording Academy event. While she was on stage, Swift announced her forthcoming studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” surprising fans and building anticipation for her next project.
As it pertained to “Karma” though, McCartan was referencing when Swift changed a line in the song, seemingly to recognize Kelce during an Eras Tour performance in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Instead of “Karma is the guy on the screen, coming straight home to me,” Swift recited the lyric, “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to me” during the mid-November show. Kelce successfully filled in the blank when McCartan said, “Karma is the guy on the ____,” but he declined from expounding on the second half of the lyric.
“She separated herself though because I actually saw that on something yesterday,” WFAN morning co-host Boomer Esiason said on Friday’s edition of Boomer & Gio. “I didn’t realize; they didn’t show Danielle asking the question. You just heard her singing the question.”
Gregg Giannotti wondered who was responsible for credentialing people for these events, such as press conferences, media center access and other availability. For this year’s event, the NFL housed its Media Row in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, an expansive space that granted media locations to produce content across multiple platforms of dissemination.
“They credential anybody,” Recco said. “Yes – and you work for FAN – they’ll get a credential; no problem. They credential people running around like superheroes.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Giannotti replied. “The media day stuff.”
There has been criticism towards media members focusing their questions on Swift rather than the game itself. Some of the questions posed to media members, including those involved in the broadcast with CBS Sports and Paramount Global, have pertained to how long they will show footage of Swift watching the game should she arrive. Swift has attended 12 Kansas City Chiefs games across the regular season and playoffs in which the team has a 9-3 record. She was most recently celebrating with Kelce on the field after the Chiefs won the AFC title and earned a chance to play for their third Super Bowl championship in five seasons.
