DATES WITH DESTINY

THE BIG MOMENTS FROM TAYLOR SWIFT AND TRAVIS KELCE'S LOVE STORY

- STORY: VICTOR MATHER / NYT

He might be the greatest tight end in football history. And she's the billion-dollar superstar of pop music. After Travis Kelce knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said, "Marry me, Taylor Swift", a flashbulb memory was created for football fans, music lovers and, well, almost everybody else, too. With the announcement of their engagement on Tuesday, an epic — and epically scrutinised — romance took the next step. Here's how we got there.

THE FAILED BRACELET PLAN

It all began in July 2023, when Kelce attended a Swift concert in Kansas City, Missouri, and adopted her fans' tradition of making and exchanging friendship bracelets with messages on them. Only Kelce planned to give his bracelet directly to Swift. And rather than an upbeat message or song title, his bracelet included his phone number.

But he was unable to meet Swift. (It was later revealed that he had thought he could breeze right past the singer's stringent security for a meeting because he knew someone working the stadium elevator.) The missed connection made him "a little butthurt", he said. Still, it amounted to a declaration of interest when Kelce talked about it on New Heights, the podcast he hosts with his brother, Jason.

THE WORLD REACTS, IT'S NOT SUBTLE

There has always been a lot of interest in Swift's love life. Somehow it got even more intense as people began to whisper and then shout about meetings between Swift and Kelce.