“Mr. Irrelevant” has no qualms about shattering the heart of the world’s biggest pop music superstar.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy did not hesitate when asked Monday if he felt “prepared to disappoint Taylor Swift” by defeating her beloved Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday.
“Yes. I’ll leave it at that,” Purdy replied with a smile as Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes stood next to him.
According to Sports Illustrated, the exchange occurred Monday in Las Vegas, site of the big game.
To help kick off Super Bowl week, the NFL Network’s Scott Hanson conducted a lighthearted interview featuring Purdy and Mahomes.
Hanson introduced the question by setting the stage for a hypothetical, tense, high-stakes, in-game situation.
“If it comes down to it, Brock, and it’s late in the fourth quarter,” he said, building drama. The interviewer then posed the question about potentially disappointing Swift.
After the audience reacted to the singer’s name and Purdy’s answer, Hanson hinted at what might follow a Swift letdown.
“OK. Well, she might get you to write a song about it. You never know,” the interviewer quipped.
Meanwhile, a smiling Mahomes took everything in stride.
Is Brock Purdy prepared to disappoint Taylor Swift?
Gotta do what ya gotta do 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/huToAINfYL
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) February 6, 2024
Swift, of course, has dominated NFL headlines all season. Media and casual fans have focused on her much-ballyhooed relationship with Chiefs tight end and Pfizer spokesman Travis Kelce.
Meanwhile, the incessant coverage of the celebrity couple has left many traditional fans exasperated and even spawned some conspiracy theories.
Part of the exasperation has stemmed from contemporary politics.
A perception exists, for instance, that supporters of former President Donald Trump have fueled the anti-Swift backlash.
A dubious article from Rolling Stone last week claimed that top Trump allies were planning a “holy war” against her as the former president himself privately griped that the pop star is more popular than he is.
Furthermore, Kelce’s decision to shill for the world’s largest pharmaceutical company certainly did not endear him to a GOP base outraged by vaccine-related censorship. And the woke Swift’s climate-mongering hypocrisy has not helped matters, either.
Finally, when former Uniparty (nee: Republican) Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming called Swift a “national treasure,” Trump supporters had their anti-Swift sensibilities affirmed.
Meanwhile, powerful people have used the singer for their own purposes. The NFL and its partner networks, for instance, have used her for ratings. And President Joe Biden reportedly hopes to use a potential Swift endorsement to bolster his foundering re-election campaign.
Amid all the Swift-related madness, however, the real story here is Purdy.
Each year, the jocular title “Mr. Irrelevant” goes to the last player selected in the NFL’s annual college draft.
Do you like Brock Purdy?
In 2022, the 49ers used the draft’s 262nd and final selection on Purdy, an unheralded quarterback from Iowa State. For comparison’s sake, Kansas City selected Mahomes 10th overall in 2017.
Thus, although the 49ers opened as slight favorites and feature immense star power throughout their roster, Purdy vs. Mahomes (and Swift) constitutes a true underdog story.
One suspects, in fact, that Purdy would not shy away from the overused David vs. Goliath sports metaphor. After all, the star quarterback has made no secret of his Christian faith.
Indeed, the contrast between his humility and Swift’s self-promotion could not be more stark.
Should Hanson’s “late in the fourth quarter” scenario materialize, therefore, one hopes that Purdy will deliver his team to victory and, in the process, deliver America from the Super Bowl ending that powerful people hope to see.
