Travis Kelce at 35: Chiefs icon still riding Taylor Swift wave and trying his luck on TV as another birthday arrives – and there’s even more history to chase in the NFL…read more

When his last birthday came around, a 34-year-old Travis Kelce was riding the wave of his new romance with Taylor Swift a few weeks after the pop megastar set the internet ablaze by watching one of his Kansas City Chiefs games for the first time.

And as he turns 35 this weekend, the Chiefs legend is still very much riding that wave.

Not only is he considered by many the greatest tight end in NFL history, but Kelce now stands tall as one half of the most famous celebrity couple on the planet, as well as a promising rookie in the world of TV.

Despite becoming another year older – and even facing calls to retire amid his sluggish early form for the Chiefs last month – there is also still plenty of history for him to chase on the football field this season.

So with the Swift relationship still going strong, his new career on the small screen taking off and a record-breaking third straight Super Bowl in his sights, DailyMail.com has taken a look at the state of play for Travis on his 35th birthday.

THE SWITCH EFFECTS

Given what he’d achieved on the field and his charismatic personality off of it, Kelce was already a household name in America before Swift came along.

Winning two Super Bowls, and one of them against his own brother in unprecedented circumstances, as an integral member of Kansas City’s offense meant the tight end was a well-known figure even to casual football fans.

But his relationship with the songstress has catapulted him to even greater heights.

Kelce had just under three million Instagram followers before Taylor arrived at Arrowhead for her very first Chiefs game in September 2023.

He now has just under seven million.

His award-winning New Heights podcast with brother Jason has also lived up to its name over the past year, recording a 170 percent increase in YouTube subscribers (2.42 million) and a 303 percent increase in Instagram followers (2.7 million) since September 2023.

The NFL has also benefitted from the increased spotlight on Travis over the past year, with a record 202.4 million people tuning in to watch him celebrate with Taylor in Las Vegas after winning last season’s Super Bowl with the Chiefs.

On his 35th birthday, Kelce now stakes a claim to being one of the most famous figures in popular culture across the globe, transcending his stardom as simply an all-time great NFL player.

NEW VENTURES

Again, Kelce wasn’t exactly short of TV opportunities before romance blossomed with Swift.

It was nearly impossible to avoid him on your screen when tuning in to any major sports network in the US, with the three-time Super Bowl winner enjoying more commercials than hot dinners in recent years.

He had also starred as host of popular late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live in March 2023, almost a month after beating older brother Jason at Super Bowl LVII, before featuring on the program again along with Swift the following October.

However, as he turns 35 Kelce has a number of exciting ventures on both the small and big screen on the horizon.

The NFL icon has made his acting debut in Ryan Murphy’s new horror show ‘Grotesquerie’, which premiered on FX last week.

After failing to appear in the first two episodes, his character featured for the first time in the third on Wednesday night, which sent fans into a frenzy on social media.

While the commercials keep flooding in, and his acting career gets off the ground, Kelce is also set to try his luck at presenting in new game show ‘Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?’

The show, which premieres on Amazon Prime with three opening episodes on October 16, offers a fun twist on the popular ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?’ series, in which contestants answered elementary school questions while being helped out by 5th Grade students in the hope of winning a $100,000 prize.

In Kelce’s edition of the show, celebrities will replace school kids on the panel and help contestants as they answer questions on a range of subjects from elementary textbooks.

Though just over two weeks before the first three episodes air on Prime, the opening trailer for ‘Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?’ was slammed as ‘beyond cringe’ by certain fans online.

The trailer showed the Chiefs star – who is being paid just $750,000 to host the show – laughing and joking with contestants and the panel of celebrities; which includes former NFL star Chad Ochocinco, comedian Nikki Glaser and media personality Lala Kent.

If TV jobs weren’t enough, Kelce has also landed a role in the upcoming Happy Gilmore 2 movie.

Adam Sandler, who starred in the iconic golf flick back in 1996, recently confirmed the NFL great is set to join the cast for the highly-anticipated sequel, although it is unclear which part he will play.