ESPN’s Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo has been forced to issue a humiliating apology to Caitlin Clark after accusing her of faking her Kansas City Chiefs fandom.
WNBA star Clark watched Travis Kelce’s team beat the Houston Texans in the divisional round of the playoffs alongside Taylor Swift on Saturday.
Clark joined Swift in the Kelce family suite to witness a masterclass from the tight end as the Chiefs took another step towards a historic Super Bowl three-peat.
The pair were sat together for the thrilling finale, which saw Kelce score a fourth-quarter touchdown while the game was on a knife-edge.
Swift erupted with joy in the VIP suite, leaping to her feet and hugging Clark. It was the key moment of the game, giving the Chiefs an eight-point lead. They would go on to record a 23-14 victory.
But Clark’s presence in the VIP suite should hardly come as a surprise. Not only is she a lifelong Chiefs fan, but the Indiana Fever guard was recently a guest on New Heights, the popular podcast hosted by Kelce and his older brother Jason.
Caitlin Clark was accused of faking her Kansas City Chiefs fandom by Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo
Russo begrudgingly apologized to the WNBA star after being told Clark is a genuine fan
Despite clarifying that she is very much a Chiefs fan on the podcast, Russo claimed that she’s not and is only supporting them ‘because they win’.
A day later, Russo was told by Dan Patrick that Clark is most definitely a Chiefs fan.
In response, he said: ‘I’m Chief’d out, Dan. I’m Chief’d out. And now all of a sudden Caitlin Clark is a Chiefs fan?
‘Let me guess this straight, we watched Caitlin, a wonderful athlete… I never saw her once wear a Chiefs jersey, wear a Chiefs hat, have her father wear the Chiefs…and now all of a sudden, she’s a huge Chiefs fan? Oh, come on!’
When Patrick told Russo that Clark announced she was a Chiefs fan years ago, Russo said in response: ‘I didn’t know that. Did she? She’s a Chiefs fan. She knows about Super Bowl I…does she know about Miami-Kansas City double overtime 27-24 for one of the most famous games in the history of the National Football League?’
After bringing up a photo of a young Clark wearing a Chiefs jersey, Patrick asked Russo if he wanted to apologize. To which he said: ‘I guess. I guess. I shouldn’t be picking on Caitlin Clark. I’m Chief’d out.’
Speaking on his podcast, Mad Dog Unleashed, on Sunday, Russo also bluntly labelled Swift ‘the girlfriend’ while criticizing both women.
He said: ‘I’ve had enough with Kelce. I’ve had enough with the girlfriend. Now I got Caitlin Clark in the mix.
Russo claimed Clark had showed no sign of her supporting the Chiefs at Iowa or in the WNBA
‘Who, by the way, I saw Caitlin Clark play, what, 50 games in college basketball the last two years? Parts of it. 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.
‘It’s ridiculous. And ESPN, they’re going to be as guilty as everybody else. They’re going to show you Swift and her and that freaking press box until the cows come home.
‘When Taylor Swift’s Bob Dylan, come back and talk to me. Come back and talk to me when she has that impact. Not for the 18-year-old girls like my daughter… When you change music, come back and talk to me.’
Former FS1 and ESPN host Skip Bayless was also infuriated to see Clark sat alongside Swift.
He posted during the game: ‘WAIT, CAITLIN CLARK IS UP IN THE ARROWHEAD BOX WITH TAYLOR SWIFT???
‘CAITLIN, YOU DON’T NEED TO BE SEEN WITH HER. YOU’RE BIGGER THAN SHE IS. STAY ON YOUR OWN PATH.’
Clark and Swift went wild after Travis Kelce scored a touchdown for the Chiefs against Houston
Clark and Swift pictured hugging in the VIP suite after Kelce’s fourth quarter touchdown
Clark, the biggest star of the WNBA, is a huge Swiftie – and revealed earlier this year that the singer had told her she was keen to watch the Chiefs with her.
They started the game sat apart but in the third quarter, they swapped seats and sat together with Clark laughing while Swift spoke to her with her hand covering her mouth.
The 22-year-old is a Chiefs fan because she has family that lives in Kansas City and as a child, would go to a Chiefs game during the holidays.
‘I had family in Kansas City, and I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, which is only three hours from Kansas City,’ she said on her recent New Heights appearance.
‘So that’s just the closest NFL team – my dad was a big Chiefs fan growing up.
‘People think I’m like a bandwagon Chiefs fan, I’m like, ‘No, I was there before Patrick (Mahomes) and Travis.’ We were ride or dies, so we’ve been big fans.’
Kelce danced in the end zone after his crucial touchdown eased the pressure on the Chiefs
Clark also went to two of Swift’s Eras Tour shows in Indianapolis earlier this year and caught another Eras show the year before.
Saturday’s win means the Chiefs are now just one win away from next month’s Super Bowl.
They will return to Arrowhead next Sunday night, where they will play the Buffalo Bills in order to punch their ticket to New Orleans in February.
Swift will surely be back and after a day like this, it would take something to keep Clark away as well.
