One Taylor Swift fan had the time of her life at the Buffalo Bills-Kansas City Chiefs matchup on Jan. 21 — and stopped by TODAY with her mother to talk about how Jason Kelce lifted her up to see the iconic pop star.
Ella Piazza, 8, told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on Jan. 23 about how the magic moment came to be — and how she was a mastermind herself and knew it would happen all along.
“I was thinking positive, but some of my friends weren’t that positive,” Ella explained of her hopes to meet Swift at the game. It all started after Jason Kelce celebrated brother Travis Kelce’s touchdown by taking off his shirt. The Philadelphia Eagles center jumped out of the suite in a cheerful mood to interact with fans, and lifted up Ella and her homemade sign to wave to Swift.
“It was amazing,” she said. “She came down, and it was like the happiest I’ve ever seen her. She was crying, just of happiness. It was so cool.” She added she knew her daughter was in good hands because Jason Kelce is the father of three daughters.
“Then (he) came over here and then he picked me up and then I saw Taylor,” Ella said with a huge grin. “It was, like, amazing.” Ella’s mom, Jessica Piazza, described the moment from her perspective.
Jessica Piazza opened up to TODAY about the moment the Philadelphia Eagles center helped her daughter say hi to Swift in another interview on Jan. 22.
“I had no idea how viral it was until I woke up at 6 a.m. this morning to a thousand texts from friends who saw it first on Barstool Sports and then everywhere!” Piazza, who is a longtime Bills fan, told TODAY.
Piazza said that the family was actually supposed to go to the game last weekend, but it was postponed and they couldn’t make the new date. “We had to sell our tickets. It was such a bummer at the time. But then when this other game came up — we knew we had to try and get tickets and we did!” she said. Luck was on their side this time around. However, the family was first sitting across from where Swift and the Kelces were located.
“She waved back and smiled,” the proud mom said. “And Ella was in absolute heaven. She still probably doesn’t realize what a big star Jason Kelce also is. She just couldn’t believe she saw Taylor! The rest of the game she was on cloud nine.”
