Travis Kelce's 'Crazy' 2023 Was Part of His Agents' Plan

Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce always had an eye on the entertainment world, according to his managers.

In a profile by the New York Times, which was released on Tuesday, brothers André and Aaron Eanes—who deal with Kelce's off-field exploits—discussed Kelce's crossover from a sports star to a full-fledged star with no qualifiers.

"People say to me, 'Man, it's been a crazy year,'" Aaron Eanes told the New York Times. "When I say, 'Actually, it's not that crazy,' people look at me funny. It's because it's easy when you have a plan. We're executing that plan."

The New York Times was quick to note: Kelce's relationship with Taylor Swift was not part of a grand scheme.

Kelce was famous before Swift, of course. He was already one of the best tight ends in NFL history. The profile noted his ill-fated reality show "Catching Kelce," which attempted to find him love in a similar format to "The Bachelor." After his dalliance in reality TV, Kelce told his agents he wanted to be on Saturday Night Live, which proved difficult initially but came together after he and the Chiefs defeated his brother Jason and the Philadelphia Eagles in last year's Super Bowl.

Still, dating Swift has raised Kelce's profile enormously, and his relationship with the biggest pop star in the world made the most of his crossover appeal in ways that simply being great at a sport couldn't. Creative Artists Agency co-chairman Richard Lovett told the New York Times that Kelce's awareness is "much larger and with an even broader audience."

"It's accelerated that which was probably inevitable in terms of his level of awareness and appeal," Lovett said.

Kelce is capitalizing on everything. His podcast with Jason has slipped to fourth on Spotify's charts, but "New Heights" is in a lofty neighborhood with the likes of "The Joe Rogan Experience" and "Huberman Lab." His agents are experimenting with next steps, including film scripts and game shows, per the New York Times.

For his part, Kelce is learning on the fly how to deal with his newfound fame.

"I was on top of the world after the Super Bowl and right now I'm even more on top of the world, so it's fun," Kelce told reporters in October. "We're learning with the paparazzi taking photos all over the place, but it comes with it. [...] You got a lot of people that care about Taylor, and for good reason. Just got to keep living and learning and enjoying the moments. At the end of the day, I've always been pretty good about compartmentalizing and being able to stay focused in this building."