While some have vocalized their negative feelings about Taylor Swift’s effect on the NFL, J.J. Watt couldn’t disagree more.
“I think it’s great. I can’t understand why people are so upset about it,” Watt, 34, exclusively tells Us Weekly on Monday, January 29, while promoting his partnership with Dawn. “I mean, they show celebrities at games all the time. Don’t act like we don’t show male celebrities at games all the time. I don’t really understand why it’s caused such an uproar.”
Since Swift, 34, began her romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce during summer 2023, the NFL has embraced her tie to the game, using her music for promos, making puns about Kelce’s stats with references to her songs and panning to her for reactions to Kelce’s performance on the field.
“I mean, she’s literally there supporting her significant other, and that’s what you should do as a significant other,” Watt continues. “So I think that it’s great.”
The NFL alum adds that Swift has “brought in a massive amount of new fans” to the sport as well as “all sorts of eyeballs and interest.” He notes that there’s “so many people” who are learning about the game who hadn’t necessarily tuned in before.
“I think it should be nothing but celebrated,” Watt says. “I think that it’s not her fault they put the camera on her, just it is what it is.”
The frequent attention on Swift at NFL games has caused quite a stir and even became a joke made by Jo Koy during the Golden Globes earlier this month.
“The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift. I swear,” Koy, 52, quipped at the time. “There’s just more to go to.”
The camera then panned to Swift, who took a sip of her drink with a straight face.
The “Karma” singer first addressed the attention in December 2023, explaining that she doesn’t know when she’s being shown on the screen.
“I don’t know how they know what suite I’m in. There’s a camera, like, a half-mile away, and you don’t know where it is, and you have no idea when the camera is putting you in the broadcast, so I don’t know if I’m being shown 17 times or once,” Swift said in her TIME Person of the Year cover story. “I’m just there to support Travis. I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads and Chads.”
When Watt is not defending Swift from the dads, Brads and Chads, he’s teaming up with Dawn®, America’s #1 Dish Brand.
“I’ve had Dawn dish soap in my house since I was a little kid,” he explains. “Now I have a kid of my own. He makes a mess. We clean it up with Dawn.”
Fans can go to JJWashParty.com to claim a free bottle of Dawn Platinum EZ-Squeeze and enter for a chance to win a trip to visit Watt in Arizona with up to nine of their friends.
“They watch a game, I wash their dishes,” he says. “Should be a lot of fun.”