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Taylor Swift and Harry Styles may have broken up more than 10 years ago, but their past relationship is not out of the spotlight — or “Out of the Woods” — just yet.
In fact, NFL broadcaster Mike Tirico seemingly made a sly reference to Swift’s 1989 track about Styles while commenting on the weather delay at the Thursday, September 5, Kansas City Chiefs game — where the 14-time Grammy winner was in attendance to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce.
“Game delayed some 20 minutes because of weather … not out of the woods for showers for the rest of the night,” Tirico announced during the first quarter of the game.
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Fans, of course, immediately took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to comment on the announcer’s potential lyric drop.
“THEY JUST SAID OUT OF THE WOODS HELP,” one Swiftie wrote in all caps.
“okay but did he say out of the woods because swiftism or just because it’s a saying ,” another fan questioned.
“Not out of the woods for showers,” a third person wrote alongside a Rihanna GiF with the caption, “i see what you did there.”
“Out of the Woods” — along with other 1989 songs like “Style” and additional bonus tracks — have long been theorized to be about Swift’s romance with Styles, which lasted less than a year between 2012 and 2013. (The lyrics “two paper airplanes flying” seem to be a reference to the musicians’ matching airplane necklaces; while “Remember when you hit the brakes too soon / twenty stitches in the hospital room” is widely thought to be about the former One Direction singer’s snowmobile accident.)
While Tirico is far from the only NFL expert to make a Swift reference since she began dating Kelce in summer 2023, his “Out of the Woods” mention gained all the more attention because of Swift’s appearance at the Chiefs’ first game of the season.
The “Love Story” artist, clad in a matching denim fit — jean shorts and a jean top — along with red thigh-high boots and a friendship bracelet given to her by a fan, immediately went viral the second she showed up to Thursday’s game, where she was later spotted chatting with Travis’ dad, Ed Kelce.