More than 70 current and former NFL tight ends met in Nashville this week to shake off the offseason slump at the fifth annual “Tight End University.”
The three-day summer camp-esque event was founded in 2021 by the San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce and former Carolina Panther Greg Olsen and unites tight ends across the league to train, bond and build community. The agenda includes a training camp to run positional drills and exchange techniques at Vanderbilt University’s campus, along with plenty of off-campus fun, including a golf outing, a ladies luncheon hosted by Claire Kittle, George Kittle’s wife and a variety of charity events.
Last year, the event raised more than $900,000 for charity, per TEU’s Instagram.
chat who had the best golf swing? 👀@te_university pic.twitter.com/WPs2AtbFsF
— NFL (@NFL) June 25, 2025
The Las Vegas Raiders’ Brock Bowers, Minnesota Vikings’ TJ Hockenson, Arizona Cardinals’ Trey McBride and Denver Broncos’ Evan Engram were among this year’s attendees. A portion of the 2025 event was also broadcast for the first time by ESPN’s “NFL Live” on Tuesday.
But the “Tight Ends and Friends” concert Tuesday night put the event in the spotlight this year when pop star Taylor Swift, Kelce’s girlfriend, gave a surprise performance of her hit song “Shake It Off.”
“We would like to dedicate this to our favorite players who are going to play, and these are the tight ends,” Swift said while introducing the song. After her performance, she gave a shoutout to the band and said they “just learned they were going to play that three minutes ago.”
Just a casual surprise performance at @te_university ✨ pic.twitter.com/Yfevp3tkIM
— NFL (@NFL) June 25, 2025
The concert was hosted for the second year in a row at Brooklyn Bowl and featured country artists Kane Brown, who brought Swift on stage, Chase Rice, Jordan Davis, Graham Barham and Sophia Scott.
This year’s Tight End University wraps up Thursday.
(Photo of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)