Tony Romo and Taylor Swift and Tavis Kelce

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo caught the attention of NFL fans when he referred to international pop sensation Taylor Swift as Travis Kelce’s “wife” during several of this year’s broadcasts.

 

Tony Romo and Taylor Swift and Tavis Kelce

 

While some might call it a Freudian slip, Romo explained the reason behind the remark during a CBS Sports media session on Thursday.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have support from their families. (Patrick Smith)

“Someone did that to me back in the day, and they’re like, ‘And there’s your wife. Oh, I mean, your girlfriend.’ So sometimes the humor doesn’t go over as well,” Romo said of his then-girlfriend Jessica Simpson,

“But I think people take to it and, like I said the same thing with Jason, ‘There’s your brother-in-law.’ I should have thrown in future brother-in-law.”

Romo is referring to a comment he made about Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, who was in a suite at Highmark Stadium with Swift during the Chiefs’ divisional round victory over the Buffalo Bills.

Romo, who joined CBS Sports in 2017 as the lead NFL game analyst, has called Swift Kelce’s wife on several occasions, even raising an eyebrow from his partner in the booth, Jim Nantz.

Former NFL quarterback Tony Romo, center, talks with Patrick Mahomes, #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Brittany Mahomes after the AFC championship game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Jan. 28, 2024 in Baltimore.

“Not yet,” Nantz responded during a December broadcast. “You don’t know something we don’t know, do you?”

It was the reaction that Romo was seemingly looking for.

“I think people come up to me all the time (and ask), ‘What do you know? Like do you think they’re gonna be (married) and everything?’ People love it and they go crazy for it,” he said Thursday, according to the report.

Swift and Kelce’s relationship has stirred a debate between those who support the relationship and the NFL’s coverage of the duo, and those who have complained over the latter.

According to Romo, he is in favor of the relationship.

Taylor Swift embraces former NFL player Tony Romo after an AFC Championship NFL football game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024, in Baltimore. The Kansas City Chiefs won 17-10. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

“It’s Taylor, she’s just as big a personality as anybody in the world right now,” he continued. “And I think that’s a great thing that she’s at football games, and I think it just adds value. And I think our team does it the right way. …. It just comes out organically and so, but to me it’s more fun to joke with people sometimes.”

Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas next weekend will mark Romo’s third time calling the big game alongside Nantz. He also called Super Bowl LV when the Chiefs lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers while on the hunt for consecutive Super Bowl titles