Travis Kelce Says He 'Didn't Invent' the Fade Haircut After Online Discourse: 'I Just Asked for It'
The NFL star addressed the backlash surrounding commentary on his haircut
Travis Kelce is untangling a rumor about his hair.
During a pre-Super Bowl interview with ESPN on Tuesday, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 34, took a moment to set the record straight about his buzzy fade haircut.
"Man, I got a good fade, if you need it," he said in the clip shared on TikTok. "It's a two on top, a nice high to mid fade with a taper on the back."
"But I didn't invent that — I just asked for it," he added with a laugh.
He also addressed the conversation that sparked online after a news outlet reported on the surging popularity of his current haircut, dubbing it "The Travis Kelce" cut. The piece was met with social media backlash for failing to address the longstanding popularity of the style within the Black community and other cultures.
"It's absolutely ridiculous. And to do it on Feb. 1 and throw me to the wolves like that," Kelce said, referencing the start of Black History Month. "That was just messed up, man. I don't want anything to do with that one."
Kelce's barber, Patrick Regan, has offered several behind-the-scenes looks at how he achieves the athlete's cut, which he calls the "skin fade" or "bald fade." The style features bald shaves on the sides that gradually fade into a three-blade shave.
In one Instagram Story post, Regan even noted that Kelce's hairstyle is hardly new or revolutionary. "Barbers do this cut all day, every day, for the past 100 years lol," he wrote in a text caption over a photo of himself giving Kelce a fresh cut.
Regan — who has been Kelce's go-to barber for six years — also revealed that the NFL star's girlfriend, Taylor Swift, is a fan of his fade.
"Taylor loves the haircut," he told Fox News earlier this month. "She has watched me cut his hair a bunch of times and always compliments it after."
Related: Taylor Swift Documents Travis Kelce's Gameday Haircut — See the Photo with Her Signature Filter
Swift even documented one of Kelce's game-day cuts, taking a photo with her signature filter that was later shared by Regan on Instagram.
“Thanks @taylorswift for the Pics of the Gameday Freshy for @killatrav 🙌🏼❤️,” Regan wrote in the post’s caption, crediting Swift for the first photo of his post.
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Regan told Good Morning America that he now has other barbers around the country reaching out to him to say that they are getting lots of requests for Kelce's cut.
"I think it just goes to show how big of an icon that he is that a simple haircut can be named like the Travis Kelce haircut,” he said. "It's pretty cool."
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