Whoopi Goldberg hits back at criticism towards Taylor Swift for Travis Kelce's slow start in 2024

While the 2024 regular season has been pretty successful for the Kansas City Chiefs, the same cannot be said for tight end Travis Kelce. Lately, Kelce has found himself on the wrong side of the fans, who have been criticizing him for his underperformance.

In fact, Taylor Swift has been targeted as one of the reasons for Kelce's decline. On Tuesday's episode of The View, Whoopi Goldberg decided to take a stand for Swift and hit back at fans for linking her to Kelce's slow start of the season.

“(The fans) apparently forgot that (the Chiefs) won the Super Bowl last year, and (Swift and Kelce) were just as tight then as they are now. What is going on?" Whoopi Goldberg said. (0:21)

"As I understand it, football is a team sport. Just because he's not making touchdowns doesn't mean he's not contributing to the success of the team. They're currently undefeated this season. Once again, just the classic blaming a woman for a man," Goldberg concluded.

Whoopi Goldberg's statement came less than a week after an NFL insider made a statement linking Travis Kelce's underperformance to his relationship with Taylor Swift. On Monday, Todd McShary appeared on The Ryen Russillo podcast and shared his criticism of Kelce.

“Every show I watch, every pregame show, halftime show, postgame show, weekday show, every broadcast I watch for the last few weeks, it’s like, are we not allowed to say that he’s out of shape, that he’s been partying all offseason? He’s been jet-setting around with the most famous person probably in the entire world," McShay said. (1:02:40)

"I want you to take a picture from preseason 2022 and then take a picture preseason 2024. They are barely the same human being. Everyone’s like, ‘We got to get him the ball, why isn’t he part of the offense?’ The defense is double-covering. Here’s the thing, bottom line with Kelce: The coverage and the respect he gets is the same. The athlete is not," McShay concluded.

However, it's worth pointing out that McShary made it clear that he is not laying any blame at the door of Taylor Swift. Instead, he is holding the schedule of Kelce's offseason responsible for the tight end's struggles.

Travis Kelce's mother Donna takes stand for TE amidst decline in on-field performance

On Tuesday, Travis Kelce's mother Donna sat in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. During the interview, Donna reacted to the massive criticism that the tight end has been receiving for his low on-field performance. Opening up about the same, she said:

"It's tough, it really is. You know, I don't think they realize the pressure that people are under, whether they're athletes or professionals that are in front of the camera. And it's just very difficult, there's a lot of things going on behind the scenes.

"You don't realize how many times people are trying to keep you from catching the ball, or trying to trip you up or hit you … so it's kinda hard when you've got people that are in your face 24/7," Donna concluded.

The Kansas City Chiefs fans are yet to see the magic of Travis Kelce on the field. After beating the Falcons on Sunday, the Chiefs are set to face the Chargers on September 29. Do you think Kelce will be able to bring his old magic back on the field this Sunday?