Jared Wiley – Travis Kelce’s new backup on the Chiefs – has claimed that he’s never heard a song by the team’s superfan, popstar Taylor Swift, but vows to start listening to her and ‘copy everything’ the Kansas City star does after being picked in the draft.
Wiley, 23, was selected as one of two fourth-round picks (131st overall) by the Chiefs last month and is the first tight end to feature on the team straight out of college since Kansas City drafted backup Noah Gray in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Gray will enter the final season of his rookie deal this upcoming fall.
But, on top of a whole new playbook to learn this upcoming season, the former TCU player will also have to start remembering lyrics to some of Swift’s hits if he wants to be on Kelce’s good side straight from the get-go.
I guess I better be one now,’ Wiley said of his Taylor Swift fandom, according to CBS Sports.
‘I’m not going to sit here and lie. I’ve probably never heard one of her songs or anything like that, but I think it’s the coolest thing ever that she’s at the game. She attracts more fans and more publicity to the team.’
The Chiefs plan to groom Wiley, a key contributor to TCU’s 2022 national runner-up season and a featured target last season, for the day when Kelce decides to hang up the cleats. Wiley had 47 receptions for 520 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023.
Kelce, who turns 35 in Oct., is guaranteed to be the Chiefs’ first option at tight end for the next two seasons, at least, after reworking his contract to become the NFL’s highest-paid player in his position (two years, $34.25million – $17.175M per year), which will give Wiley a lot of time to learn from the three-time Super Bowl champion.
‘Him signing that extension, there’s probably nobody that was more excited than me,’ Wiley said. ‘Just being able to have a little bit more time with him to just learn under him and see what he does every day. That’s, in my opinion, the best tight end to ever play the game, honestly.
‘I know that it might take couple of years for me to even start kind of scratching the surface to be on that level. So the fact that I now can just kind of sit back and just be like ”Ok how can I find my way on the field in Year One?” Ok, Year One’s done. Ok. Now, how can I start transitioning my game to something else? That was a really big deal for me.
One of the former Horned Frog’s priorities in 2024 is to just take notes on everything Kelce does that has led him to become the lead tight ends all time in receiving yards per game (71.2), 1,000-yard seasons (seven) and 100-yard receiving games (37).
‘It’s going to be really fun. I can’t wait to just be a sponge and just be able to absorb as much information as I possibly can,’ Wiley further said.
‘Travis has done a really good job at doing what he does, and he’s done it for a really long time. Everybody talks about the play the makes and all that, but I don’t see a lot of people talking about the fact he’s in like Year 12, Year 13 [2024 will be Kelce’s 12th NFL season].
