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DON'T SCRUTINIZE SWIFT AT THE SUPER BOWL

OPINION By Lily Wheadon

With the 58th Super Bowl coming up, there has been buzz in the news about the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers second championship faceoff in four years and preparation for Super Bowl parties. But above all, social media is full of countless posts about Taylor Swift attending playoff games to support her boyfriend, Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce. Between Swifties freaking out at the mere sight of Swift in the stands, and die-hard football fans being angry at the occasional camera shots of the popstar, the uproar over Swift attending Chiefs’ games has spiraled out of control.

  I love Swift just as much as the next girl. She has been my top artist on Spotify for three years in a row, and I have fallen victim to scrolling through hours of Eras Tour videos on TikTok. Despite that, the frenzy over Swift and Kelce’s relationship has become too aggressive. The two have only been publicly dating for around five months, and fans are already dreaming of marriage for this couple, often forgetting that it is still fairly early on in their relationship.

  The larger problem, however, comes with the overwhelming anger that has come from many NFL fans in the past months. The endless complaints about Swift getting “too much screen time” are overreactions, considering she spends on average less than 25 seconds on camera over the course of a 3 hour game broadcast, according to the New York Times.

  Recently, the social media brigade against Swift has worsened, especially with recent hateful comments from Golden Globes host Jo Koy and TikTok posts begging Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson to win the AFC Championship and “save” people from having to watch Swift during the Super Bowl. These claims are inane, considering her screen time is likely to be under a minute. Despite what social media may be telling football fans, the focus will be on the game itself, the halftime show, the commercials, and literally anything else besides Swift.

  People also seem to be forgetting that showing celebrities attending professional sports games is not at all uncommon. During almost every broadcast, there is a shot of some interesting celebrity in attendance, from Jimmy Kimmel to Brad Pitt,  most of whom are left to enjoy the game without any outside criticism of fans who believe they are “distracting from the game.”

  Swift’s attendance at the game could in fact be beneficial to many football fans. Swift has attracted a whole new demographic of people to the football games, and many young women and girls have started paying more attention to football because of her attendance. Football fans can now talk about the games with their friends, girlfriends, sisters, and daughters who might not have been interested before, but now follow the sport.

  The claim that Swift is “distracting from the game” is a misnomer, considering that the people who seem to be obsessing over her attendance the most are the people hating on her. Cheering on her boyfriend from the stands does not need to be and should not be a big deal, and everyone should enjoy the upcoming championship game without giving much thought to Swift.