Tony Romo reveals personal reason he referred to Taylor Swift as Travis Kelce’s ‘wife'

During a season in which the relationship between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce has taken center stage, CBS NFL color commentator Tony Romo has provided his own twist on things when he has said multiple times during games that the couple is married.

Romo, who has referred to Swift as Kelce’s wife twice while calling Chiefs games, says he’s done so simply as a joke, a nod to his own experience being in a high profile relationship when he dated Jessica Simpson while he was the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.

“Someone did that to me back in the day and they’re like, ‘And there’s your wife. Oh, I mean, your girlfriend.’ So sometimes the humor doesn’t go over as well,” Romo said during a conference call on Feb. 1, according to the Kansas City Star.

Romo, who will broadcast the Super Bowl between Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers for CBS alongside Jim Nantz, said fans have latched onto his words and he’s made the same type of comments in reference to Swift’s relationship to Kelce’s brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.

“But I think people take to it and like I said the same thing with Jason, ‘There’s your brother-in-law.’ I should have thrown in future brother-in-law,” he said.

Romo said fans have approached him to ask if he has any inside info.

“But I think people come up to me all the time (and ask), ‘What do you know? Like do you think they’re gonna be (married) and everything?’ People love it and they go crazy for it,” he said.

While there has been a backlash among some fans annoyed at seeing Swift at Chiefs games, Romo thinks her presence has been wonderful.

“It’s Taylor, she’s just as big a personality as anybody in the world right now,” he said. “And I think that’s a great thing that she’s at football games, and I think it just adds value. And I think our team does it the right way. .... It just comes out organically and so, but to me it’s more fun to joke with people sometimes.”

Kelce’s profile has reached a level few athletes have achieved, which is a double-edged sword, according to Romo, who credits him with stepping up in the Chiefs AFC Championship victory over the Baltimore Ravens, in which he caught 11 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown.

“If you win, there’s nothing you can write on that,” he said, according to CBS Sports. “If they’re losing, and Travis wasn’t playing well, he’d be hit with that stigma even though, I think, it’s not true. To me, he’s still Travis Kelce and he’s playing incredible football right now. He was the difference in a lot of ways in that game against the Ravens.”

Kelce will try to keep that momentum going when the Chiefs and 49ers square off in the Super Bowl, scheduled for Feb. 11 at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. ET.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com