“Anti-American” is probably the last word that comes to mind when one thinks of football, the nation’s most-watched sport, yet it’s what some conservative critics are calling a Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce, because of his rumored relationship with Taylor Swift. 

The singer’s attendance at the Chiefs game versus the Jets last night is part of the singer’s campaign to “ruin” football, some on the online right claim. The game was punctuated by shots of Ms. Swift in the stands and also featured Mr. Kelce’s advertisement for the Covid vaccine — an injection of progressive politics into a historically conservative sport that was too much for some fans to handle. 

Although Mr. Kelce helped his team earn a 23-20 victory, the evening did not muster celebration from fans claiming the game was rigged and inexplicably pinning it on Ms. Swift. The National Football League now declares in its Instagram bio that the “Chiefs are 2-0 as Swifties.” An NFL commentator, Dov Kleiman, said that this statement, following a contentious call against the Jets by the referees last night, suggests it “could already be decided” that the Chiefs will win the Super Bowl this year. 

The outrage is political. “A match made in liberal heaven” is how one Fox News commentator, Tomi Lahren, described the pair on her talk show last week. She wished them “the best of luck” with “myocarditis,” a nod to Mr. Kelce’s Pfizer advertisement promoting the Covid booster shot. An American right-wing and conservative sports news website, Outkick, directed disappointment at the player, declaring on X that he has “sold out to Pfizer.”

Some commentators on the right are accusing Ms. Swift of making Mr. Kelce “woke,” as the pop star has publicly supported the anti-gun violence and LGBTQ movements and urged her fans to vote against President Trump in the 2020 election. The tight end, though, has long denounced traditional conservative stances, having drawn the ire of conservatives when he knelt during the national anthem in support of Colin Kaepernick in 2017. 

The founder of an anti-Muslim group called ACT for America, Brigitte Gabriel, decried on X last week that Ms. Swift and, by extension, Mr. Kelce are “anti-American.” Yet despite breaking the mold of the dominant politics of the American South and Midwest, both the football star, hailing from Ohio, and the singer, who was born in Pennsylvania and grew up in Tennessee, have attracted large fanbases in the regions.

Fury also surrounds the diversion of attention from the sport itself and toward a female music star. “I hope they show a few snaps of the game tonight in between filming that average blonde singer,” a user wrote of the NFL’s Instagram photo of Ms. Swift in the stands. Another decried on the same post that “women found a way to ruin football.”

Haters are even threatening to boycott football itself. The social media personality and self-proclaimed “alpha male,” Nick Adams, whose work has been praised by Mr. Trump, said ahead of Sunday’s game that he would not watch it on television in a show of protest. “Who’s with me?!” he asked on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. More than 10,000 users liked the post. 

Ms. Swift’s involvement in the sport has sparked accusations that “TrayTay,” as the rumored couple has been called, is a mere ploy for publicity — as if the second-richest self-made woman in music needs more fans. A commercial for Ms. Swift’s Era’s tour movie was featured during one commercial break in Sunday’s game, suggesting to some that the potential love story is a “publicity stunt.” 

While accusations grow that Ms. Swift is exploiting American football for popularity, it might be the case that the NFL is capitalizing on her fame as she draws a wave of new football lovers. Her attendance at the Chief’s game at Kansas City last week spiked ticket prices for last night’s game and inspired her fans to “Taylor-gate” outside MetLife Studio in bedazzled Travis Kelce jerseys. 

As soon as the cameras spotted the star in the stands, the NBC anchor, Mike Tirico, announced, “Taylor is in the house,” and spoke to the red-lipped fans directly: “Hi Swifties, we’ll be with you all night.” To quote the title of one of the singer’s hit songs, a spike in NFL viewership — brought on by fans and haters alike — might indeed be part of the league’s “End Game.”

Representatives for Ms. Swift and Mr. Kelce did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Sun.