Stefanie Hill may not be cheer captain, but she surely isn’t on the bleachers!
The former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader who had been on the Super Bowl-defending squad for six seasons has experienced it all, from making four NFL Championship appearances with the team to watching Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s love story unfold in real-time.
In a video shared to TikTok, Hill — whose cheer career with the Chiefs culminated with a Super Bowl victory in February 2024 — gave viewers a glimpse inside the power couple’s relationship from her perspective at games, including the sweet tradition Swift follows in support of Kelce.
Hill reminisced about the first Chiefs game Swift went to on Sept. 24 at the time romance rumors started to swirl with the football player at the beginning of the 2023-2024 season.
“The very first game she ever attended, I almost pooped myself when I was in that corner,” she jokingly recalled in the TikTok posted in September 2024. At the time, she thought, “I don’t know how to do my job right now because I have to watch the game, lead the chants and cheers and dances.”
But with one of the biggest superstars on the planet in the crowd watching the field, Hill admitted her concentration was thrown off. She recalled thinking, “I physically can not focus because I’m like, ‘That is Taylor Swift!'”
To make matters even more stressful for the Chiefs cheerleader, she says the squad decided to use one of the routines she came up with for the games. “We performed my choreography in the end zone. I looked up and no joke, she was on the screen and she was clapping,” Hill says of Swift.
“And I was like, ‘She just watched our team dance and is now applauding and she liked my choreography,'” she continues to recall in disbelief. “If she didn’t like it, she wouldn’t have clapped. So that was pretty cool.”
Then, Hill revealed what Swift would do to support Kelce after games. Being that the Chiefs Cheerleader locker rooms were right next to the athlete locker rooms, she had a clear view of player interactions.
“All those pictures of her game day outfits walking down red tunnels in Arrowhead [Stadium] are right next to the players’ locker rooms, which is right next door to the Chiefs Cheer locker room,” Hill explains in the TikTok. “There were so many close encounters,” she says of herself and Swift.
“At the end of the game, she would always meet Travis by the locker room,” the former cheerleader shares.
Toward the end of the TikTok, Hill admitted that she and the cheer squad went into total fangirl mode themselves. “So there was one game that we were like, ‘We have just got to wait here and I’m sure we are gonna see her walk by and if we all stand by the door.'”
Hill said they “huddled” together with the hopes Swift would “take a picture” with them. “We were waiting for like a really long time. I’m not even a Swiftie and I was like crawled down in the front waiting to take my picture with her,” she says with a laugh.
In conclusion, Hill was Team Swift after her unique experiences of getting an up-close perspective of the pop star. “Overall, I was a huge fan of having her a part of Chiefs Kingdom.”
At the end of the 2023-2024 season, Hill posted another video to TikTok that revealed the “crazy tradition” the Kansas City Chiefs Cheerleaders take part in every time they make a Super Bowl appearance.
“We have this crazy tradition where we get tattoos every time we go to a Super Bowl. Last year, we went to Definitive Tattoo Gallery and we absolutely loved it, so we’re back!” the cheerleader says in the clip filmed in March 2024.
“Once I got inside, all my teammates were already there. This was my fourth Super Bowl appearance, so that means tattoo number four today,” she revealed, ultimately getting a Roman numeral to represent the Super Bowl year and an arrowhead in tribute to the Kansas City Chiefs stadium.
“It is not a requirement to get a tattoo and there is absolutely no pressure,” Hill made clear. “However, I would say the majority of our team got tatted today. Even our athletic trainer, Michaela, joined us and got a cute Vegas-themed tattoo with 34 to represent the members of our team!”
