IT'S WAR! Bailey Zappe Declares He's No Fan of Taylor Swift's Mere Days Before Facing Kansas City.

There's an old and not especially funny joke where a guy is laying on his deathbed, and the priest performing the Last Rites asks, "Do you reject Satan and all his works?" But the guy doesn't say anything. So the priest repeats the question. And the guy thinks a little while longer and finally answers, "At this point, I'm not sure I should make enemies." 

Again, that's not exactly Norm MacDonald-level material. But it's used to illustrate the point that there are times when the best move is to hedge your bets. Or avoid saying anything at all. Like when you're potentially facing a foe as powerful as the Prince of Darkness. 

And right now, there is no more formidable being walking the Earth than Taylor Swift. No one leads a larger cult of personality. No one inspires more loyalty. And no one has more power to destroy anyone she feels is standing in her way. But that apparently doesn't strike fear into the heart of Bailey Zappe. When asked if he's fan, he didn't hesitate to make enemies:

“No ma’am. No ma’am. This is not a shot at Taylor Swift. I’m not not a fan, I just don’t listen to that music. …

Is she Country? I’m a Country guy. So that’s probably why (I’m not a fan) since she transferred over to pop. I know some of her old songs whenever she was in Country. I mean…I don’t dislike her.”

I haven't exactly been sold on Zappe. Not even after last week's win at Pittsburgh when he came out on fire and cooled off as the game wore on. But this might do it for me. This is guts. This is leadership. It's fearlessness. The willingness to take on the most rabid following in all of hero worship, consequences be damned. 

Alienating the legion of Swifties is a bold strategy, indeed. This week of all weeks. 

The Chiefs are currently suffering through the worst public relations they've ever dealt with in the aftermath of Patrick Mahomes insane meltdown. They didn't face this kind of backlash when Jackson Mahomes was sexually assaulting a restaurant owner, Brittany Mahomes was spraying champagne all over the crowd, or Andy Reid's son was injuring people in a drunk driving crash. The millions of Swifties who never followed football but became hardcore Travis Kelce fans 10 minutes ago have never experienced this kind of negativity. They're in a dark place for the first time in their Chiefs fandom. They have to be on edge. 

And along comes this guy they've never heard of, not only refusing to bend the knee to their Queen, but questioning how authentically Country she is now that she switched to Pop? I'm not all that well versed in their culture, but I get the sense saying this is a form of blasphemy. And all manner of retribution should be heading Zappe's way in the days to come. It would've been a hell of a lot easier if Mac Jones was still the starter:

But I respect the hell out of Zappe for his willingness to face the dragon he's unleashed with these comments.

All this is just another reason why it was a terrible idea for ESPN to flex this game off Monday Night Football. Two weeks ago looked like the worst game of the year is now an all out war for the soul of America. Strap in. It's going to be a wild week after all.