ESPN’s Nicole Briscoe shared her hottest take about the upcoming NFL season — and it involves Taylor Swift and Aaron Rodgers.
“Taylor Swift attended 13 Chiefs games last season,” Briscoe, 44, said on the Thursday, August 1, episode of SportsCenter. “This season, she will attend more games than Aaron Rodgers will play.”
Her comment sparked shocked reactions from her cohosts Ryan Clark and Matt Barrie, who called her take “crazy” and said there was “no way” Swift, 34, would be at more games than the New York Jets quarterback, 40.
“You told me to be bold!” Briscoe told the pair, later adding, “The whole concept of this was to say something bold, and the only one who actually went bold was me.”
Clark, 44, proceeded to ask her, “Which part of it is bold? The fact that a relationship that is now in its second year will only intensify in the way that they support one another?” Briscoe chimed in, quipping, “No it’s the Aaron Rodgers part,” prompting laughter from the cohosts.
Rodgers suffered a season-ending ankle injury during the fourth play of his first game with the Jets in September 2023, but is set to return when the Jets kick off the season against the San Francisco 49ers team on September 9.
“Thank you to every person that has reached out, called, texted, DM’d, connected through a friend, etc. It has meant a ton to me, and I’ll try and get back to all of you soon 🥹❤️,” Rodgers wrote via Instagram at the time. “I’m completely heartbroken and moving through all of the emotions, but deeply touched and humbled by the support and love. 💔Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I begin the healing process today. 🙏♾️ ❤️.”
The athlete — who underwent surgery for his injury in September 2023 — later announced that the upcoming NFL season won’t be his last. “During. December a 2023 episode of “The Pat McAfee Show,” Rodgers said that he developed “a renewed passion and love for the game” since joining the Jets.
He continued: “Everything has been amazing here, just the people I’ve gotten to work with, the relationships I’ve gotten to form with my teammates, and the amazing men and women that work here.”
Earlier this year, Rodgers missed a mandatory Jets minicamp practice without submitting a valid excuse. “Aaron and I spoke before OTAs [organized team activities] started. He’s been very good in communication — he’s been here the entire time” head coach Robert Saleh told CNN in June. “It’s unexcused, but he had an event that was very important to him, which he communicated.”
Swift, for her part, was a big presence throughout the most recent NFL season as she cheered on her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, at several Kansas City Chiefs games. She also traveled from an Eras Tour show in Tokyo all the way to Las Vegas to see him and the Chiefs win the Super Bowl back in February.
Swift will likely attend more Chiefs games in between stops on her Eras Tour, which concludes in December. She has the entire month of September off, meaning she could watch the Chiefs kick off the new season in a home game against the Baltimore Ravens.
