The video was self-serving, of course. Taylor Swift, who turned 35 years old on Friday, is the most football fan in the world, and the NFL wanted to take advantage of that by giving her a birthday present of a video of Swift with boyfriend Travis Kelce, who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. This would get people talking about Swift, obviously, but the NFL as well and the league loves its publicity.
There are quite a few Swifties who probably liked the montage. After all, this was a large sports entity doing an homage to a Swiftie's hero. Taylor deserved this because she is the best, many might believe. She should have gotten a Chiefs Super Bowl ring from last season, too. She was dating Kelce at that time.
The problem with the NFL's gift wasn't the clips of Swift watching Kelce play, the tight end and the pop star holding hands as they leave the stadium, and Kelce joining Swift on stage during an Eras Tour stop. The issue is the choice of song the league used. The track was a cover of John Legend's "All of Me" by Toby Gad and Celina Sharma.
NFL delivers Taylor Swift a cringe-worthy birthday gift
Had the league chosen Legend's original, which is more sparse than the cover, then maybe that would have been fine. Instead, the cover is overly sweet, and hearing that played over moments of a couple's interactions feels voyeuristic and icky. The fact that a professional football league is the one producing the video makes it seem even more creepy.
We seem to lose track of the fact that while Swift and Kelce are public figures they are also human beings. They don't have a relationship simply to allow people to watch them. The NFL seemed bent on stealing their personal romantic moments and adding a football touch.
Still, the clips were not the main issue; the song was. What if a different tune had been chosen? The NFL could have gone with AC/DC's "Back in Black" for no real reason other than to not be derivative and unoriginal. Next time, the league should just stick to football.