In viral video, fan thanks Travis Kelce for special memories he had with daughter
Travis Kelce hasn’t decided if he’ll return to the Chiefs for a 14th season or retire from the NFL, but following Sunday’s game, fans were sharing tributes to him.
Even if he doesn’t play another down, Kelce is a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame based on his phenomenal stats. When he’s done playing, Kelce also will be remembered for his impact in the KC community, as he has been the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year winner.
Chiefs fans will be grateful for those contributions, but a football fan in St. Louis is thankful for Kelce for a different reason.
Mark Baden is not a Chiefs fan, and for a short while quit watching the NFL after the Rams left St. Louis for LA. But, as a football lover, Baden was drawn back to watching the sport at the highest level.
One Sunday something unexpected happened, as Baden recalled in a TikTok video that went viral.
“Didn’t really have a team to root for, just watching to have something to do on Sundays,” Baden said in the video. “And one day, three years ago, my daughter comes downstairs and asked me to put on the Chiefs game. She was 7 years old. There was no interest in football prior to this. I’m sure it’s obvious where I’m going. She wanted to watch Travis Kelce play because of Travis and Taylor (Swift). .
“Everybody’s got their opinions. I’m just gonna say this: Travis, if this was your last game, just know that there are a lot of dads and daughters that bonded over football, that wouldn’t have bonded over football if it wasn’t for you.”
Baden reiterated he didn’t cheer for the Chiefs (or any other team) but he was happy to watch Kansas City’s games.
“We were able to sit and bond and watch a lot of your games, and it was time we wouldn’t have had together,” Baden said in the video. “And so, yeah, I think it is a special thing when dads and daughters, when fathers and sons, fathers and kids, parents and kids, whatever it is, can find something special to bond about that wouldn’t be something you normally would think that you’d be able to bond over.
“So I’ve enjoyed learning about your career. I’ve enjoyed watching you play. If this was the last game, I will enjoy continuing listening to the New Heights podcast, and, yeah, it’s an exceptional career. But I just hope you know it was more than just football stuff, that you touched a lot of families. Because I know this house is not the only house. There are millions of others that dads and daughters are watching football together now because of you. So thank you, and I hope that wasn’t the last game, but if it was, good luck.”
Baden didn’t expect Kelce would see the video, but he wanted to express his gratitude to the Chiefs star.
The video went viral quickly and he was amazed.
“As someone who really never has had anything blow up on social media, I was absolutely shocked by the response,” Baden told The Star in an email. “I think it was over 80,000 views, a ton or private messages and over 9,000 likes. so yeah, for a spur of the moment post, I think the response was amazing. “It was so nice and kind that so many people tagged Travis, Taylor, New Heights and others to try and get my daughter’s attention. Even though that wasn’t the point of the post, it was very nice and unexpected.”
Baden does wish he had said something to Swift, the international singing star who is engaged to Kelce.
“If I could have added anything it would have been a comment to Taylor as well,” Baden wrote. “She is the reason my daughter found interest in Travis and really what started this whole thing. It started with her wanted to see if Taylor was at the games and went on to her actually watching the games with me. It’s pretty amazing.”
Here is the video.
This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 11:15 AM with the headline "In viral video, fan thanks Travis Kelce for special memories he had with daughter."
