Opinion | The hottest football players right now

This past week was probably one of the biggest weeks the NFL has seen in a regular season, and I think we all know why — Taylor Swift. Taylor’s debut at the Chiefs v. Bears game on Sept. 24 almost broke the internet. It was all over my TikTok “For You” page, where everyone and their moms had something to say about the topic. Since then, the TikTok algorithm brought me to NFL TikTok. 

Maybe it was the one too many TikToks I liked about Taylor at the Chiefs game, but instead of bringing me to Swiftie TikTok, I ended up on football TikTok — which, to be honest, is pretty entertaining. Amidst this whole debacle, I’ve noticed a pattern of who is constantly trending and talked about. So here is a list of who I think the hottest football players are right now — though, whether or not you find them attractive or hot is to each their own. 

Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce 

I think everyone knows who Travis Kelce is at this point, but if you don’t, he is the guy dating Taylor Swift who people are talking about on TikTok recently. Kelce is a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs. He has won two Super Bowls, LIV and LVII, playing for the Chiefs and is considered one of the best tight ends in football. 

Travis Kelce also has a brother, Jason Kelce, who plays for the Eagles. They also have a podcast together called New Heights. Travis mentioned on his podcast that he went to the Eras Tour in Kansas City with a friendship bracelet he wanted to give to Taylor with his number on it, though he never got the chance to give it to her. But here we are now. He was just a man with a dream, and now he’s dating one of the biggest pop stars in history. 

We first saw Taylor at the Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears sitting with Travis’ mom, Donna, in the Kelce Family box. She was seen wearing red and clearly cheering for the Chiefs! This was a big deal since Taylor grew up an Eagles fan. ESPN and the NFL also played into the Taylor Swift hype. That made us Swifties even more excited — for football nonetheless. That is not something a majority of us regularly tune into so this shows how impactful this whole Taylor and Travis thing is. Then, this past Sunday, she was seen again at the Chiefs game against the New York Jets. This game pulled in 29.4 million viewers — the most watched Sunday game since Super Bowl LVII which occurred this past February. 

On another note, since his relationship with Taylor Swift went public, his jersey sales have jumped nearly 400%, and his Instagram has gained almost 1 million new followers. Whether or not Taylor Swift “put him on the map” is debatable, but she certainly did introduce him to a whole new audience. 

Braxton Berrios 

If you’re not familiar with who Alix Earle is and what she does, then you probably have no idea what’s happening and why this player is highly talked about. Braxton Berrios — “Mr. NFL man” — is a wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins. 

Alix Earle just recently revealed who her mystery man is after stating they were “just friends.” Drama then erupted, curious if she homewrecked his relationship to get with him or if he cheated on his girlfriend with her. She cleared things up on the ”Call Her Daddy” podcast with host Alex Cooper. She talked about how her dad cheated on her mom when she was little so she views cheating and homewrecking as a very serious act. Because of this, she said she would never try to do that with someone else because of how she felt when it was affecting her own family. 

So, Alix and Braxton are official, and there was no cheating or homewrecking in the making of this relationship. He even posted her at his game, confirming their relationship status. 

Joe Burrow 

Do I need to explain this one? I think we all know who Joey B. is at this point. He is the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals and he’s quite good at what he does. Many girls took notice of his looks and it all started from there. He initially blew up for looking very attractive — and I have to agree. Joe Burrow trending for his hotness isn’t news, though. He blew up initially a number of years ago. 

However, this season, although fan edits and thirst videos of him are still circulating online, fans and fangirls are now talking about him for a different reason. He’s not playing well. The Bengals are 1-3 so far, which is below the standard they’ve set in past seasons. In three of the four games, Joe Burrow has failed to throw a touchdown. Right now, he is on pace to throw under 10 touchdowns for the season. In comparison to the past two seasons, he’s averaged at least two touchdown passes per game. This season is a disappointing start for the Bengals and Joe Burrow fans since they’re used to high-scoring offenses. Many anticipate that he will return to form, but so far he has not played like the “Joe Burr” that fans and TikTok have come to love. 

Issac Rochell 

Many on TikTok may know him as Allison Kuch’s husband. Allison has built up quite an audience on TikTok with 2.8 million followers. She mainly posts beauty and family content as well as explaining the intricacies of football to her followers. 

One video that caught lots of traction was a TikTok of Allison talking about how her husband Isaac was cut from the Raiders. This sparked a lot of talk online because she did also mention that this was during her pregnancy, so the uncertainty of their future was not a great situation. She went on to explain what the NFL cut day is to non-football fanatics. If you still find the whole situation confusing, don’t worry — I do too. I still have trouble making sense of what everything means after watching Allison break it down through a series of TikToks. 

Fortunately, an update came out a few weeks ago that Issac will continue as a defensive end for the Las Vegas Raiders and is no longer an inactive player. 

Josh Allen 

Josh Allen is a quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, and he is a pretty big name in the football community. He also carried my fantasy football team quite a bit last year. His name started trending for a bit because he was rumored to be dating actress Hailee Steinfeld. They were spotted out together on numerous occasions in public, so that sparked some assumptions about their situation. Not much is known about their relationship, though, since it seems that they are trying to keep it more private. 

Well, this is the sum up of the hottest and trending football players right now. I hope you guys had as much fun catching up with all the tea and drama as I did. Maybe the next time I do another one of these, a Pitt player — or two — will appear on the list. 

Kelly Xiong writes about all things fashion, beauty, personal health, and sometimes pop culture. You can write to her at jux13@pitt.edu