Travis Kelce is once again attracting the attention of the gallery, but this time, it’s not because of a spectacular catch.
The Kansas City Chiefs player convinced today’s most popular singer, Taylor Swift, to attend one of his games. In a dressing room. With Kelce’s mom. The sweet date continued at a restaurant, where the duo paid all the customers to leave, so they could be alone.
Let’s not jump to conclusions too quickly.
Maybe it’s just friendship.
Who, after all, hasn’t racked up dozens of bills just to have some quality time with a buddy? We’ve all done this for a friend, right?
Not you ?
Okay. Maybe it’s a flirtation. An idyll. A budding love. And I know you, fellow football fans, well enough to know that this concerns you. Especially if you have Travis Kelce in your football pool. If he falls madly in love with Taylor Swift, will your team suffer?
PHOTO ED ZURGA, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Travis Kelce celebrates his touchdown on Sunday.
The received idea is that budding romances harm athletes. A perception reinforced by works of fiction, in which lovers are presented as seducers, bewitchers, even corrupters.
Take Throw and count. Dominique Cartier troubles Pierre Lambert. Valérie Nantel pushes Danny Bouchard to shoot himself in the head. Natasha Mishkin seduces the Soviets to better spy on them. This is not exclusive to the work of Réjean Tremblay. In Bull Durham, Friday Night Lights, Footballers’ Wives And Ted Lasso, conquests are at the heart of the intrigues. And often, love has the same effect on athletes as kryptonite does on Superman.
He erases superpowers.
Of course, reality sometimes catches up with fiction. Former Boston Bruins head coach Mike Milbury said during the lockdown that the bubble was a good idea because “there aren’t even any women to distract the players anymore.” Words that cost him his job as an analyst at NBC. We have also seen Canadian players find themselves in bizarre love affairs. Alex Galchenyuk, for example. And if the budding romance involves a love triangle between teammates, it can wreak havoc on a team. Even worse: a triangle involving a player and his boss. So there, it’s a disaster. As Bob Bissonnette sang to former CH defender Chris Chelios: “You’ve had a lot of trouble in your life. »
On the other hand, there are plenty of athletes who excel when they are in love. Tom Brady met model Gisele Bündchen in 2006. In the following months, the former New England Patriots quarterback was voted NFL Player of the Year, and he set a personal best, with 50 touchdown passes. Serena Williams met her future husband in the spring of 2015. In the weeks that followed, she won the Roland-Garros and Wimbledon tournaments in quick succession. And I know a bunch of Olympians who won a medal while in love.
What does science say about it?
In 2015, 20 Olympians took part in a study on the impact of romantic relationships on sporting results. Fifteen of them said their performance was better when they were in love.
“My partner lives with me and helps me cope better with the pressure,” said one respondent. Others noted that having a loved one at their side was an additional source of motivation. It’s logic. Several studies have demonstrated that an athlete’s entourage (coach, parents, teammates) has an influence on performance.
Likewise, encouragement from a coach can increase self-esteem, and increase the enjoyment of playing a sport. Now imagine the power of intense love.
Except that 20 athletes remains too small a sample to draw general conclusions. The four researchers also stressed that it was difficult to establish a direct link between a romantic relationship and sporting results. As one athlete cited in their study explains: “I am now in a relationship. I train a lot more. I think my performance is better because of my training, but I’m not sure. »
On the ground, what do we observe?
Former tennis player Jocelyn Robichaud, who was a national coach and is now in charge of under-15 development at Tennis Canada, thinks that a romantic relationship can be beneficial for an athlete. “It puts you in a good state of mind, which can inspire you positively. »
He acknowledges, however, that there may be risks. “The danger is changing one’s primary interests in the training and preparation process. This can have detrimental effects on performance in the medium and long term. »
To avoid going there, “your love must embark on your project, and be ready to accept the pros and cons”. Not for nothing do we see so many athletic couples. Between them, they understand each other better. They experience the same issues. Distance, for example. It’s not easy to maintain a long-distance relationship, several months a year.
When an athlete is in love, adds Jocelyn Robichaud, he tends, in his free moments, to spend more time with his partner, and less time with his team. “It can be positive,” he emphasizes. The person may be more relaxed. More confident. It can also be negative, if it harms preparation.
The intensity of the sport and its love influences the direction of its priorities.
Jocelyn Robichaud, of Tennis Canada
Olympic medalist Nathalie Lambert, who was Canada’s chef de mission at the Vancouver Games, believes each case is different.
“It depends so much on the athlete. I believe that at this level, and especially in this type of glamorous sport [qu’est le football de la NFL], distraction management is part of an athlete’s standard toolbox. » Afterwards, in the case of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, “we are at another level of distraction, obviously”, she specifies.
However, if there is a footballer well equipped to manage this distraction, it is Travis Kelce. In 2016, he was the star of a reality show, Catching Kelce, whose objective was to find him a new lover. The media hype had not harmed him. On the contrary. That year, he reached the 1,000-yard plateau for the first time in his career. And last Sunday, even though all the spotlight was on him – and his guest –, he caught seven of the eight passes aimed at him, and scored a touchdown.
So, are you still worried about your pool?
Do not worry.
As Taylor Swift sings in Shake It Off : “It’s gonna be alright. »
It’s going to be fine.