Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner is hardly secretive about his appreciation for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship — and the impact it’s had on the NFL.
“Our sport has become a spectacle as much as anything else — and that’s why I love it,” Warner, 52, tells PEOPLE as he shares details about his upcoming Super Bowl partnership with the Bingo Blitz Big Game Sweepstakes. “I like it more for those two because I know Travis and I’m a big fan, and it seems to work well for those two.”
He adds: “It brings another layer of excitement to the games and what’s going on, and to a fan base that maybe didn’t watch football as much before, and now we’re watching it and maybe they’ve tuned in for something other than football.”
These are all high praises coming from the man who directed St. Louis Rams in the late ’90s — otherwise known as “The Greatest Show on Lawn” — which was a spectacle in itself.
Travis Kelce confirms he can’t attend Grammys with Taylor Swift because of Super Bowl: ‘I wish I could’
Now, the sports analyst says he’s happy to see the game’s audience evolve, whatever that looks like. “For me, it’s about building a fan base, whatever that fan base looks like,” Warner says.
“So I’m on the NFL Network and I’m trying to talk to the fan base, it’s people who are die-hard football people who want to learn football,” he continues, explaining that “we also have fantasy football, right? That has been taken down. Why? Because there are a lot of people who are not diehards who don’t necessarily want to watch every game and follow every player, but it connects them to our game.”
Adds Warner: “I believe that stuff like this with Taylor Swift and Travis — not to make it just, ‘Oh, it’s helping our league’ or ‘It’s building a fan base’ — but I believe it’s brought more to our game.”
For the multifaceted Warner — who is also a husband, father of seven and high school coach — the newfound engagement is also a metaphor for life.
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“Sometimes we find ourselves on the road to doing something, not expecting to engage or connect with that thing, but once we get there, we’re like, ‘Oh man, I really like this. I enjoy this,’ he says. “And now they become fans for life. And so I’m all for those things as long as they’re done in a positive way.”
Such an optimistic outlook seems to be why Warner is enjoying another job these days: promoting a new sweepstakes with the online game Bingo Blitz.
Donna Kelce gave Taylor Swift Travis Kelce the jersey ring she wore in the Chiefs playoff game against the Ravens
Participants can download an app to play, and if any team gets a Super Bowl-record eight sacks during the Feb. 11 game, they’ll win $1 million.
“I used to love blitzing when I was playing,” Warner says, looking back on his NFL days. “I wanted people to target me because I always felt like I could take the ball out of my hands and have success.”
The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will face off in Super Bowl LVIII, which will air on CBS on February 11th at 6:30pm ET.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education