The Eagles safety once played alongside Jason Kelce, whose brother Travis has dated the superstar since 2023
Despite increasing backlash, Philadelphia Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson doubled down on his hate towards Taylor Swift.
The Super Bowl 2025 champion — who once played alongside Jason Kelce, whose brother Travis Kelce dates the superstar — wore a sweatshirt to the team’s victory parade on Friday, Feb. 14 that read: “Swifties can LIX my balls.”
This followed a post on Monday, Feb. 10 in which Gardner-Johnson posted an Instagram Story mocking Travis, insinuating he should have stayed with his ex-girlfriend Kayla Nicole rather than date Swift to win the Super Bowl.
The safety’s initial post led to a flood of backlash from fans on all sides, from Swifties to Eagles supporters. And in the days since, his mother’s restaurant in Florida has been inundated with negative reviews on Yelp.
Gardner’s controversial hoodie comes days after the “Fortnight” singer was booed when she appeared on the Jumbotron at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans during the game on Sunday, Feb. 9.
It was not the same response that the venue had when it displayed a giant friendship bracelet for her Eras Tour stop there in October.
During the Super Bowl, Swift, 35, looked surprised but brushed off the boos from the stadium’s predominant Eagles contingent.
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The singer turned to her pal, rapper Ice Spice, and longtime friend Ashley Avignone giving the crowd a bit of side-eye as the group shook off the negativity.
In the days before the big game, Swift was seen seemingly enjoying the Big Easy, going to dinner alongside her boyfriend tight end and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany Mahomes, and taking in other sights with friends and family members.
The negative response to the music superstar perplexed at least one member of the Eagles: Saquon Barkley.
In an interview on The Howard Stern Show, the star running back said he was disappointed by the crowd booing Swift at the game.
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“I remember that they showed her on the Jumbotron and she got booed. I don’t get it. I don’t get why she was getting hate there,” he told Stern, who agreed.
For Barkley, the Taylor Swift Effect has been a real thing.
“She’s made the game bigger,” Barkley noted, and added, “We’re trying to expand the game and you know, her being a part of it’s only helping that.”
