Iowa Hawkeyes Legend Caitlin Clark Receiving Backlash for Chiefs' Support

Iowa Hawkeyes legend Caitlin Clark is hearing a lot after supporting the Kansas City Chiefs with Taylor Swift.
Jan 18, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Recording artist Taylor Swift (upper middle) sits with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (upper right) during the fourth quarter of a 2025 AFC divisional round game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Jan 18, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Recording artist Taylor Swift (upper middle) sits with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (upper right) during the fourth quarter of a 2025 AFC divisional round game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. / Denny Medley-Imagn Images
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Iowa Hawkeyes legend Caitlin Clark made an appearance on Sunday that sent fans into a frenzy. During the broadcast of the Kansas City Chiefs' playoff matchup against the Houston Texans, Clark was shown sitting next to Taylor Swift.

She was rooting on the Chiefs with Swift and some fans and media members alike didn't appreciate it.

Of course, it's none of anyone's business what Clark does or who she sits with, but the media and fans like to get involved in that kind of stuff.

Following the Clark and Swift videos going viral, one media member in particular decided to say something.

During a segment on his SiriusXM radio show this week, Chris Russo expressed his displeasure about seeing Clark hanging out with Swift and rooting for Kansas City.

"I’ve had enough with Kelce. I’ve had enough with the girlfriend. Now I got Caitlin Clark in the mix,” Russo said. “Who, by the way, I saw Caitlin Clark play, what, 50 games in college basketball the last two years? I never heard one reference. I never saw her father with a Chief jersey on. I never saw her with a Chief hat on. I heard not one reference in 50 games that she was a Chief fan, and then all of a sudden now she’s a big Kansas City fan. Come on, stop, please. I understand you want to be a fan because they win, but that was tough to take." 

Despite Russo's hint that Clark was not a real Chiefs' fan, she actually spoke out about her fanhood back in 2023 during a segment on the "ManningCast."

"I’ve been a Chiefs fan since I was a young girl," Clark said at the time. "My brother was a Chiefs fan, my dad was a Chiefs fan. I had cousins in Kansas City that were Chiefs fans. Honestly it was just something all I knew. In our basement, we had a Chiefs vending machine. We had those toy helmets that were Chiefs that you could run around in the yard and I could knock helmets with my brothers."

Needless to say, this is just another example of the media putting its foot in its mouth. Russo was dead wrong on his attempted shade at Clark.

The former Iowa superstar has become one of the biggest names in sports. Unfortunately, at times that means that she will become a target for the media. This was one of those times.

All of that being said, Clark fans could not get enough of her sharing a fun experience with Swift. It's just another sign of how big of a name the Hawkeyes' legend has become.


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Evan Massey
EVAN MASSEY

Evan Massey is a sports reporter and analyst who covers college football, the NFL and NBA. He has contributed to the On SI network since July 2021. He has also written for ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, NFLAnalysis.net, NBAAnalysis.net and many other publications. In his free time, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife and son.