Tom Cruise turned up at Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night and wound up with the kind of seat most people only dream about: next to Taylor Swift for Chiefs-Broncos on “Monday Night Football.”
Cruise was spotted with Swift and talking to her during the first quarter of the game in Kansas City, where the Chiefs were hosting the Broncos. Swift was there to support husband Travis Kelce as he begins what could be his final season.
Why Cruise showed up wasn’t immediately clear. What is clear is that he’s no stranger to big sports stages. The actor has long been linked to sports fandom, and he was part of Fox’s Super Bowl 59 broadcast when he appeared in an introductory video before the Chiefs met the Eagles two seasons ago.
He also isn’t known to live near Kansas City, which makes the timing and the setting stand out even more. Still, the chance to take in one of the week’s biggest matchups beside a global superstar is not exactly a hard sell.
As for whether Cruise is actually a Chiefs fan, that doesn’t appear to be the case. He hasn’t publicly committed to a specific team, though Jimmy Kimmel said in 2022 that Cruise is a Giants fan. That would track with Cruise being born in upstate New York and going to high school in New Jersey.
If that’s the team he roots for, Week 1 likely left him in a good mood. And if he was sitting in Swift’s suite at Arrowhead on Monday night, he probably had to borrow Chiefs loyalty for at least one evening.
In Other News...
Cardinals Could Finally Have A Shot At The Frontline Arm They Need
Spencer Strider has become the kind of name that naturally pops up when teams start searching for a rotation lift. The Braves right-hander has been slowed by injuries in recent seasons, which has changed the conversation around him from frontline ace to possible buy-low trade target, and that alone makes him one of the more intriguing arms on the offseason market for a club like the Cardinals.
St. Louis has spent plenty of time looking for the kind of pitcher who can change the shape of a staff, and Striders availability would fit that search. Atlanta reportedly explored moving him to Texas for Jacob deGrom at the trade deadline before deGrom used his no-trade clause to stop it, which only adds to the sense that Strider could be in play if the Braves are willing to listen. For the Cardinals, the appeal is obvious, even if the real question is whether they can put together the kind of deal that gets them into the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Leo Bernal Is Making One Cardinals Regret Feel Even Bigger
Leo Bernals first few weeks in the big leagues have done more than introduce the Cardinals to a promising young catcher. Since his promotion on Sept. 1, he has given St. Louis immediate production on both sides of the ball, looking far more settled than a player making his first leap to the majors. The early returns have been strong enough to turn his arrival into one of the more encouraging developments of the late season, and his impact has already shown up in the record book.
For the Cardinals, the more interesting part is what might have been if Bernal had arrived sooner. The clubs playoff chase could have looked different with that kind of energy behind the plate and in the lineup earlier in the stretch run, especially given how quickly he has translated his tools to the majors. Even now, the larger question hangs over the organization: not whether Bernal belongs, but how much more value he could have provided if the call had come before September. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Rotation Has One Rising Surprise And One Growing Concern
With 11 games left and a Wild Card chase that has all but slipped away, the Cardinals are spending the final stretch looking at the rotation with a colder eye than they did a month ago. The group has produced one rising surprise in the mix, but it has also left a growing concern that has shaped the way St. Louis has evaluated the rest of this season and the months ahead.
That backdrop makes the trade of Dustin May and JoJo Romero to the Milwaukee Brewers even more telling, because the return brought back two prospects the organization sees as worth tracking: Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale. Both players fit the kind of long-view thinking that takes over when the standings get grim, and their arrival adds a little intrigue to a system that is trying to balance short-term uncertainty with long-term hope. [Read more 🡒]