Patriots owner wildly suggests Taylor Swift is dating wrong future HOF tight end

Over the years, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has used his influence to connect with famous musicians, including Jon Bon Jovi, Meek Mill, and 50 Cent. Meek Mill initially sought Kraft's perspective on business affairs, but their friendship has deepened over the years, with Kraft visiting Meek Mill in prison and Meek Mill supporting Kraft's campaign against antisemitism. 

While Kraft's friendship with the hip-hop star is one of his most publicized celebrity connections, one of the most notable — and relevant to today's NFL — is that his friendship with Taylor Swift began all the way back in 2010 as Swift sought a concert venue. 

According to Kraft, he convinced Swift and her family to make a play to perform in Gillette Stadium for a summer concert, and it worked. On June 6, 2010, Swift performed in her first-ever concert in an NFL stadium before 55,000 fans at Gillette. That concert, which has become known as the "rain concert" in Swiftie lore, sparked a successful relationship between Swift and the Patriots home turf. She became the first female headliner to sell out three nights at Gillette during her Reputation Tour in 2018. 

Robert Kraft jokes Rob Gronkowski is better than Travis Kelce for Taylor Swift

While Kraft is appreciative of his friendship with Swift and her special connection to Gillette Stadium, he did jokingly suggest that Swift could have spent more time at the stadium if she dated a different Hall of Fame tight end. Speaking with reporters, Kraft joked that Swift should be dating former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, especially since he's "better-looking" than her current partner, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. 

"Her first stadium concert was on my birthday in 2010, June [6],” Kraft said. “We convinced her and her family that she could sell out a stadium. So when she came to view the Chiefs play the Patriots this year at Gillette, I gave her a framed ticket from that concert. June [6], 2010. Think about it: she was like 18, 19, and she's done pretty well since then. Except maybe she should have been dating Gronk. He's better-looking."

Kraft’s joke likely stems from the heated debate about whether Gronkowski or Kelce is the greatest tight end in league history. On the field, Kelce has often drawn comparisons to Gronkowski. Both have donned No. 87 jerseys and both have been the most dominant offensive weapon for a dynasty. 

The comparisons end there, however. While Gronkowski was a true tight end, Kelce has been a wide receiver moonlighting as a tight end. 

The Slot Machine

Coach Andy Reid’s West Coast offense aligns Kelce wide on 32 percent of snaps — four times higher than the average tight end (eight percent). Kelce, who is regularly featured as the X receiver in the formation, gained over 1,000 receiving yards from a detached alignment for five consecutive seasons prior to 2023 — all other tight ends combined for zero such seasons since 2016, per NFL Next Gen Stats. During that span, only three players — Justin Jefferson, Julio Jones and Michael Thomas — averaged more than Kelce’s 2.54 yards per route run from a wide alignment. In 2022, Kelce ranked first among tight ends in yards per route from a slot (2.39) or wide (2.46) alignment. No tight end ran more routes from a wide alignment than Kelce (183), and seven of his 12 touchdowns that year came from a wide alignment. In 2023, Kelce had 74 targets from the slot — 51.4 percent of his total targets this season. 

“You have to treat him like a wide receiver,” a NFC coordinator told The Athletic (subscription required) last year. 

While Gronkowski was also split out wide, he had a multifaceted toolset. During his prime, Gronkowski was considered the best non-quarterback offensive player in the league. Gronkowski was a matchup nightmare: he was too quick for linebackers, too big for defensive backs. Defenses couldn’t use the typical indicators to tell if they were facing a run or a pass. Gronkowski’s presence allowed the offense to pass from 12 personnel (two tight ends) and run from 11 personnel (three wide receivers).

It would be more suiting to compare Kelce to the league’s top wide receivers rather than other tight ends, despite his first-glance similarity to Gronkowski.

After all, Kelce has a case to be considered one of the best receivers in the league today.

During the Kansas City Chiefs’ 27-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional Round, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Kelce set a new NFL record for most postseason touchdowns by a quarterback-receiver duo (16) in league history.