Jan 26, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Recording artist Taylor Swift celebrates after the AFC Championship game against the Buffalo Bills at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Kansas Jayhawks Fan Taylor Swift Gets Engaged

Originally posted on Kansas Jayhawks on SI
By Dillon Davis | Last updated Aug 26, 2025 6:01 PM ET

On Tuesday, social media accounts, news stations, and television broadcasts across the world exploded with the news that pop star Taylor Swift has announced her engagement to Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce after nearly two years of dating.

The two shared the announcement on Instagram with a caption that reads: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”

Swift’s global popularity as an artist is second to none, and her wedding will likely be the most high-profile celebrity event of the century whenever it occurs.

But while Swift has held the attention of the entertainment world for the past two decades since she burst onto the scene with her self-titled debut back in 2006, she’s also captured the attention of many Kansas Jayhawk sports fans with her numerous ties to Lawrence and the Kansas City area.

Last year, Swift made headlines locally after sharing a photo of herself in a throwback KU themed crewneck sweatshirt as part of a video short shared to her YouTube channel.

Jayhawk Swifties were buzzing after that, and the unisex sweatshirt quickly became a hot ticket item for online and in-store retailers.

Rock Chalk @taylorswift13 pic.twitter.com/lyDwPX6dE0
— Kansas Jayhawks (@KUAthletics) April 20, 2024

However, her ties to Lawrence and KU go back long before the sweatshirt reveal last spring.

In April 2009, Swift visited KU’s campus in Lawrence to see one of her lifelong best friends, Abigail Anderson, who was a swimmer on KU’s Swim and Dive team at the time.

She even attended a class with Anderson and had KU students in a frenzy after spotting her on campus and later at a popular Lawrence college bar known as “The Hawk.”

Later that year, Swift did an interview prior to appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show and said that if she could travel or go back to a place that she’s been, she would choose Kansas to visit her best friend.

“I love Kansas,” Swift said. “My perfect day off would be going to visit my best friend Abigail in Lawrence, Kansas … I love going to visit her. It’s this little college town and it’s kind of fun because you always kind of wonder about the path you didn’t take, and the path I didn’t take was going to college. So, when I have days off, I like to go and visit Abigail and kind of experience college without having to take tests and study.”

Plenty of other celebrities are self-proclaimed Kansas fans, but none come close to the celebrity status currently owned by Swift – whose (hopefully continued) affection and support of the Jayhawks and the Lawrence community will only make the Kansas brand that much stronger.

Her soon-to-be husband will likely be working right down the road.

This article first appeared on Kansas Jayhawks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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