CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A black van with tinted windows slowly drove down the underground tunnel on the north side of Huntington Bank Field early Sunday afternoon.
As photographers and reporters readied their cameras and phones, everyone was expecting one person: Superstar singer Taylor Swift, who happens to also be the girlfriend of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Kelce and the Chiefs were taking on his hometown Browns on Sunday, and rumor on the street was that perhaps Swift would be in Cleveland to attend her first Kansas City away game of the 2024 season.
Instead of Swift, however, Brittan Berry, wife of Browns GM Andrew Berry, hopped out. She quickly waved to the gaggle of media, exclaiming, "It's just me, I'm so sorry!"
Her excellent comedic timing was the highlight of a 2-hour-plus-long stakeout for Swift.
So why all the hype for Swift's possible arrival here?
Kelce is of course a northeast Ohio native. He graduated from Cleveland Heights High School, a few years behind big brother Jason.
Both are future NFL Hall of Famers, with Travis as arguably the best pass-catching tight end ever, and Jason revolutionizing the way the center position is played with his mobility. Jason retired at the end of 2023 after 13 seasons with the Eagles.
When Swift and Travis Kelce went public with their relationship last September, they quickly became the it celebrity couple of the moment.
The tight end attended over a dozen of her record-breaking Eras Tour shows, and in June, even joined her on stage in London during the NFL's pre-training camp dead period.
Swift has become a staple at Chiefs games over that time too, notably racing back to Las Vegas from a show in Tokyo to attend the Chiefs' Super Bowl win over the San Francisco 49ers in February.
This season, however, she has yet to attend a Chiefs' away game due to reported security concerns.
But there were reasons to believe that perhaps Cleveland could be different.
Friday was the singer's 35th birthday. She also just wrapped her Eras Tour slate last weekend in Vancouver, Canada. Her longtime lead guitarist, Paul Sidoti (a Cleveland native) was in attendance and served as the tunnel guitarist during pregame intros.
And of course, it's the fact that this is Kelce's hometown, which he still talks glowingly about on his and Jason's New Heights podcast.
So, when a Browns' security official told us emphatically around 11:30 a.m. that Swift would not be attending, I wasn't inclined to believe him. It actually had the opposite effect, further convincing me that everything was in line for Swift to show up.
Throughout the weekend, there was speculation over Swift's possible whereabouts throughout the city. Rumors on social media reached a groundswell on Saturday evening, suggesting that she was dining in downtown Cleveland at establishments including Fahrenheit, Marble Room, and Blue Point Grille.
Fans were tracking tail numbers and locations of private jets much like Cleveland fans have done in the past when LeBron James hit free agency, or amidst Browns' coaching searches.
Everyone, it seemed, had heard something, or knew someone who knew someone else who claimed to know that Swift was here, within city limits.
On Sunday we did get a look at some of the Kelce contingent arriving, including mom, Donna Kelce.
But in the end, the late morning and early afternoon turned into an old journalism adage: Hurry up and wait.
We stood and asked questions, prying for whatever we could to figure out if and when the singer would arrive.
This self-admitted Swiftie, in her rush to get in place in the non-climate-controlled tunnels, also left her winter jacket in the climate-controlled press box.
After about 30 minutes of standing, with feels-like temperatures outside in the high-20s, I realized I made a grave error.
But thanks to my editor, Dave Campbell, who walked in from surveying the outside of the stadium looking for signs of Swift and gave me the coat off his back. In that moment, I was about as excited to have a pocket for my handwarmers (graciously shared with me by Channel 5's Camryn Justice) as I was when I got a presale code for Eras Tour tickets two years ago.
As 1 p.m. neared and kickoff happened, more than half of the press contingent departed to do what we are all here to do: Watch some football.
I gave myself some extra time, just in case there was a late arrival planned, having already given up hope. But I wanted to see the job -- and more importantly, the story -- through until the very end. To me, that's what being a journalist is all about.
And so we waited, until 1:15 p.m. ET, about 15 minutes after the game kicked off, as the last cars in line were valeted and the final transport vans were parked, before turning around and walking across the stadium to the elevators that would take us to the press box.
Swift may not have attended, but even her absence has provided me with a good story.