Star Philadelphia running back Saquon Barkley told fans Wednesday they need to calm down and not boo Taylor Swift for just sitting up in the bleachers, cheering on her boyfriend.
Swift, the romantic partner of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, was showered with jeers from the crowd in New Orleans on Sunday when Superdome scoreboard operators showed her at the Super Bowl.
The incident clearly caught Barkley's attention.
Asked Wednesday on "The Howard Stern Show" whether he thought Kelce and Swift would get married, Barkley said he didn't know and then quickly shifted the conversation to fans booing Swift.
"I have no idea," Barkley said of the marital query. "I will say this though: They showed her on the jumbotron. She got booed. I don't get it. I don't get why she was getting hate there."
Stern chimed in: "I didn't like that, either."
"Yeah, she's just there supporting her significant other, and she's made the game bigger," said Barkley, reminding listeners how much Swift has grown pro football.
"We're all about how can we expand the game and make it more international. And we're traveling to Brazil. We're traveling to Mexico. Her being a part of this is only helping us. So I don't get the dislike that she's given," he said.
Philadelphia fans had a marvelous time Sunday, watching their Eagles ruin the last great American dynasty with a 40-22 victory over the two-time-defending Super Bowl champs.
Kansas City was seeking to become the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
The big win made Eagles like Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts busy figures on the talk show circuit this week. They were guests on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Tuesday when Fallon showed them video of New York Giants management bemoaning Barkley’s leaving East Rutherford, New Jersey, for Philadelphia as a free agent.
Barkley passed on the chance to gloat and mock his former employers.
"That clip doesn't really display my relationship I have with that organization, from top to bottom," he said.
"They're the people that brought me in. After the game, so many guys and people from the organization reached out to me and were super happy to ... see me hold that Lombardi Trophy up."
Barkley said he enjoyed his six seasons for Big Blue but now wants to be known as an Eagle
"That clip is in the past, and I'm happy to be an Eagle. I look at it as [Hall of Fame member] Marshall Faulk, one of my favorite running backs, he played for the Colts, but he's remembered as a Ram. So now I'm just trying to be remembered as an Eagle."
