The world of pop music and professional football often seem like two separate universes, but sometimes, a casual mention can create a hilarious ripple effect. That’s exactly what happened when pop superstar Taylor Swift recently dropped a few NFL names during a podcast chat. Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff found himself squarely in the spotlight, much to his surprise.
Goff, 30, later told reporters on Thursday, August 14, that his phone nearly blew up. Messages came pouring in after the "Bad Blood" singer mentioned him the night before. "Yeah, crazy, huh? Pretty cool, I guess," Goff said, as reported by Sports Illustrated. "It was a wild couple of hours for me and my phone last night. I was like, ‘Oh, OK.’ But yeah, pretty cool." He certainly felt like the greatest man who ever lived for a moment.
Swift, 35, appeared as a special guest on the "New Heights" podcast episode released on Wednesday, August 13. The show is co-hosted by her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, also 35, and his brother, Jason Kelce. The episode drew millions of listeners within its first 24 hours.
During their chat, the "Shake It Off" singer talked about her journey learning the rules of American football. She admitted she didn’t know much about the game before she started dating Travis in the summer of 2023. Swift painted a funny picture of her early understanding. "I thought it was something like: Jared Goff is here and Josh Allen is here," she explained. "They are going to blow a whistle, they are going to face each other and they say ‘Grr,’ and it’s like, who is going to win?"
Swift also shared a laugh about the mixed reactions she sometimes gets from sports fans. Since she started attending Travis’s games, she’s become a familiar face in the stands. "As we all know, you have a lot of male sports fans who listen to your podcast," she quipped. "And I think we all know that, if there’s anything male sports fans want to see in their spaces and on their screens, it’s more of me."
Beyond the football fun, the podcast episode brought big news for music fans. Swift used the platform to reveal the cover and tracklist for her twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl. Over 13 million people watched the episode on YouTube within the first 24 hours of its release.
"It was something I was working on while I was in Europe with the Eras Tour. I love it. I love it so much," Swift shared about her new music during the podcast. "I love music." She added that even though touring had left her "physically exhausted," she felt "mentally… very stimulated and very excited to be creating" while working on the album.
For this new record, the Grammy winner teamed up with her "mentor," Max Martin, and producer Shellback. This trio has a history of creating hit songs together, including "I Knew You Were Trouble," "Bad Blood," and "Blank Space." "We’ve made songs I’m very proud of," she said. "We’ve never made an album just the three of us before. Honestly, it was like catching lightning in a bottle."