Who is Stavvy, the Ravens superfan and Taylor Swift combatant?

When the 2023 NFL season kicked off, there were questions I anticipated having to answer. On the list of possibilities, I would have placed questions surrounding the identity of celebrity fans way toward the bottom.

Quickly it became apparent just how wrong that was. Some weeks, it felt like Taylor Swift's appearance at Chiefs games was bigger than anything that happened in the game itself. Swift's public entanglement with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce became the collision of sports and pop culture, and it quickly pulled national attention, converting pop fans to sports fans and vice versa.

Like anything fun with two massive groups of superfans behind it, a dissenting opinion quickly grew. There always seems to be a crowd of people who hate the trends and want to so badly show everyone just how hipster they are.

Swift's presence did, fairly enough, become overwhelming. Some fans started getting annoyed with half the camera cuts being to her luxury box at Arrowhead Stadium. For those who are fatigued by the Swift takeover, may I present to you one Stavvy as an alternative?

Who is Stavvy, and what does he mean to Ravens fans?

Stavvy has quickly become the meme counterpunch to Taylor Swift. By no means nearly as ubiquitous a name or figure as the mega pop star in Swift, Stavvy is a comedian whose real name is Stavros Halkias. He was born in the Baltimore, MD area and is a massive Baltimore Ravens fan.

More of a modern comedian, Stavvy has done plenty of stand-up comedy (and published two comedy specials) but has gained most of his audience from non-linear formats like podcasts, Twitch streams, and bite-sized social media clips.

As the Ravens have emerged as a No. 1 seed in the AFC and gone on an impressive postseason run, Stavvy has been overt in his support, showing up at some games this season.

The Ravens website itself played into the celebrity fan face-off between Swift and Stavvy (which, let's be honest, is more of a meme than a real rivalry), which they quoted Stavvy putting it quite aptly:

"Do you want a billionaire international pop star?" Stavros said. "Or do you want a fat, balding man who is barely a celebrity by the most charitable standards and lives and dies with his team? Those are your options here, folks."

You heard it here first, folks. Choose your fighter.