As Taylor Swift, who celebrated her 34th birthday in NYC this week, and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce continue to make headlines as the It-Couple of the moment, one might wonder, how did we get here? The 12-time Grammy Award-winning artist and Super Bowl-winner have quite the modern love story. In case you’ve missed the past six months of charming viral moments, coveted commentary, and countless press, here’s everything you need to know:

July 26, 2023

After attending his first Eras Tour concert in early July, Travis tells his brother and fellow NFL star Jason Kelce, as well as their New Heights podcast listeners, that he was “disappointed” he didn’t get to give Taylor a friendship bracelet before or after the show. “If you’re up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets…I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it,” he says. “She doesn’t meet anybody—or at least she didn’t want to meet me, so I took it personal.” The clip ultimately went viral, causing Swifties, 92-Percenters, and even NFL commentators to weigh in on it all. 

September 21, 2023

While on as a guest on the ESPN special, The Pat McAfee Show, Travis invites Taylor to a Chiefs game, telling the host, “I threw the ball in her court, and you know I told her, ‘I’ve seen you rock the stage at Arrowhead, and you might have to come see me rock the stage at Arrowhead.’” To which an animated Pat McAfee responds, “Travis! All right now.”

September 24, 2023

Just days later, the pair make headlines when Taylor does exactly that and shows up in Arrowhead Stadium, this time dressed in Chiefs’ red and sitting far above the field in the Kelce suite alongside Travis’s mother, Donna Kelce. After a soaring win over the Chicago Bears, the couple left the stadium together in Travis’s own getaway car—a 1970 Chevelle convertible.  

September 27, 2023

Following the game that broke ESPN viewership records with 31.2 million views,  a TikTok trend arose poking fun at the seemingly staggering response to Taylor’s attendance. Users tell football fans, “Wow, Taylor really put this guy on the map,” which usually—quite comically—elicits a response of complete shock.

On their September 27 New Heights episode, Jason jokingly asks Travis, “Well, Trav, how’s it feel that Taylor Swift has finally put you on the map?” to which he laughs, “I just thought it was awesome how everybody in the suite had nothing but great things to say about her…To see the slow-motion chest bumps, to see the high fives with mom, to see how, you know, how Chiefs kingdom was all excited that she was there, that shit was absolutely hysterical, and it was definitely a game I’ll remember that’s for damn sure. And then, we just slide off in the getaway car at the end.” 

October 1, 2023

Another Sunday, another winning gameday for the Chiefs, with Taylor in attendance, of course. That Sunday, the singer brought along a few friends to watch Travis take on the New York Jets in MetLife Stadium. Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Sophie Turner, Sabrina Carpenter, and Hugh Jackman sat amidst the star-studded entourage. 

October 14-15, 2023

Following surprise Saturday Night Live appearances, Travis and Taylor step out hand-in-hand in New York City. Taylor, who introduced the episode’s musical guest, Ice Spice, and Travis, who appeared as himself in a football-inspired sketch, headed into Catch Steak for a post-game soirée. The following evening, the pair were spotted all smiles, arriving at the Waverly Inn.

November 11, 2023

@todayshow Karma IS the guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to #TaylorSwift At this weekend’s show in Buenos Aires, #TravisKelce was in attendance, and he got a very special shoutout. #TODAYShow #ErasTour : @Javi Gutierrez ♬ original sound – TODAY Show

During her Eras Tour show in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Taylor shocked fans—and even a few backup dancers—when she changed the lyrics of “Karma” singing, “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me.” Fans captured Travis’ sweet reaction on camera, as red lights sparked in the stadium and Taylor’s dad, Scott Swift, proudly pointed to the blushing athlete. Following the electric performance, Taylor met Travis backstage, waving goodbye to a few fans and running into his arms for a kiss.

Soon after, Travis briefly discusses meeting Taylor’s dad on his podcast. “Got him over to the good side, baby,” the footballer says of the Chiefs fandom. “I might have persuaded him at dinner the night before. When I met him.” 

November 20, 2023

During an interview with the Wall Street Journal Magazine, Travis thanks a couple of “cupids” that had a hand in bringing him and Taylor together. “When I met her in New York, we had already kind of been talking, so I knew we could have a nice dinner and, like, a conversation, and what goes from there will go from there,” he says. Later in the article, Travis calls Taylor “hilarious” and “a genius,” sharing he’s “never dated anyone with that kind of aura about them.”

December 6, 2023

When Taylor graced the cover of Time Magazine as the 2023 Person of the Year, she offered a few behind-the-scenes anecdotes on her relationship with Travis. “This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,” she says. “We started hanging out right after that. So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other. By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard-launch a first date.”

As for her recent airtime on ESPN, and any haters looking to offer opinions, Taylor pays no attention.  “I’m just there to support Travis,” she says. “I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads, and Chads.”