Taylor Swift‘s influence on sports extends beyond football. Legendary wrestler Mick Foley, a.k.a. Mankind a.k.a. Cactus Jack a.k.a. Dude Love, shared a sweet story about the pop star on his Facebook page.
“I do enjoy Taylor’s music. Don’t get me wrong. My two older kids love Taylor Swift, and her music is an indelible part of the soundtrack to so many of our lives – whether we realize it or not. I think she is a gifted songwriter, and an amazing performer. But in wrestle-speak, Taylor Swift is ‘over’ with me for a completely different reason,” he wrote.
In 2007, Foley’s friend and current AEW wrestler Jeff Jarrett lost his wife to cancer. “My thoughts of Jeff Jarrett and Taylor Swift are indelibly linked, as it was at this incredibly difficult time in Jeff’s life, just after the passing of his wife, that I heard Jeff say something that has obviously stuck with me to this day,” Foley wrote. “I’m paraphrasing here, but the words were to the effect of ‘Taylor took the girls out for the day’ and how important that time with her was to them. I was literally stunned to find out that the Taylor he had mentioned was Taylor Swift, who in 2007 was already well on her way to being a global superstar, with eponymous 2006 album, Taylor Swift several months into an astonishing 157 weeks on the #Billboard200 charts.”
He continued:
“As touched as I was by this story, I thought it was a random act of kindness done on a one-time basis. But I came to understand that Taylor, who had become a neighbor of Jeff’s in Hendersonville, Tennessee and was a regular part of the girls lives as they grew up. She did not just take them out for that one day; she was there for them during the most difficult part of their lives. She baked cookies, she sang in their living room, she babysat while Jeff was at his wife’s bedside; she was a true friend and a shining example of kindness when kindness was needed most.”
Foley has never seen Swift live or purchased one of her albums, but due to her kindess, “I love Taylor Swift – and in my own way, am a Swiftie for life.” You can read the full post below.