EAGAN, Minnesota – Jasper Brinkley, director of player engagement, and Arkeem Byrd, deputy director of player engagement, were named by the Minnesota Vikings on Friday as new hires for their 2024 player engagement team. Les Pico, the Vikings’ executive director of player development, will receive assistance from Brinkley and Byrd.

After serving as the team’s linebacker from 2009 to 2012 and in 2014, Brinkley is back in Minnesota. During his seven-year NFL career, which included stints with the Arizona Cardinals (2013) and New York Giants (2015), he appeared in 94 games and made 42 starts. After retiring from the game, Brinkley concentrated on running his own trucking business, Brinkley Logistics, and mentoring and coaching a number of young football teams and organizations in Katy, Texas.

Brinkley, an African American Studies graduate from the University of South Carolina and a native of Thomson, Georgia, has been helping Pico with the Minnesota Vikings Rookie Success Program every year since 2017. With four children, Jawan (age 23), Dakyus (19), Tayla (16), and Jasper Jr. (8), Brinkley is married to Kellie, a 100-meter hurdles bronze medalist from the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

For the previous two years, Byrd served as Temple University’s director of player development. In order to assist new football student-athletes in adjusting to collegiate life both on and off the field, Byrd established the football team’s first internship program and a transition program while he was a member of the Owls. Along with organizing volunteer opportunities and helping with official and informal visits, he also acted as a point of contact for Temple’s academic support staff and football student-athletes.

Bryd was a student-athlete development coordinator at Oregon before moving to Temple. He was an Arizona State graduate assistant for student-athlete development before joining the Ducks. Byrd was an academic support assistant at Penn State before joining the Sun Devils.

Byrd, a Savannah, Georgia native, was a defensive back and a running back for Wake Forest. After an injury in 2018 ended his career, he became a student coach with the Demon Deacons. In 2020, Byrd received his degree in communications from Wake Forest.

Following his arrest, Travis Kelce’s father lashes out at Taylor Swift’s stalker.

The stalker of Taylor Swift, who has also threatened Ed Kelce, the father of Travis Kelce, has a direct message for her. Before Swift’s visit to Germany for the Eras Tour, the stalker was recently taken into custody.

Ed Kelce shared a Forbes article on Taylor Swift’s stalker’s arrest on Facebook. His reaction to the news was succinct and charming.

He murmured, “Love to know who this come-b***h is.”

The father of Travis Kelce is a watchful figure who wants the best for his kid. Swift and Kelce had received menacing communications from the stalker. But he was taken into custody prior to July 17.

The stalker was detained until after her Gelsenkirchen performances concluded. The scheduled date of his release was Saturday, July 20. The stalker was detained at entry checks prior to the show on July 17, even though they had a ticket for it.

The relationship between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

Since September 2023, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift have been a prominent couple in the media. Swift’s appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs game versus the Chicago Bears ignited rumors that the two were dating.

She would then appear in 12 more games, making 13 (her favorite number) her season total in 2023. Among these contests was Super Bowl LVIII, which saw the Chiefs defeat the 49ers 25–22.

Kelce has paid Swift’s Eras Tour concerts forward by sticking around after the Super Bowl. He attended a number of events during the European leg and even made an appearance on stage at one. Kelce was one of Swift’s backup dancers during “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” at her June 23 London event.

The longer their connection has lasted, the more it has grown. Kelce just went on a $72,000 Swift shopping binge. He bought her a number of expensive brands of clothes.

The first show of the tour was held in Glendale, Arizona on March 17, 2023. She toured North America for the majority of 2023 before performing in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil to end the year.

Swift continued the tour in February 2024, visiting Japan, Australia, and Singapore, following a few months break. Before starting the European part of the tour in Nanterre, France, she took another two-month break.

Throughout the summer, Swift has performed live in multiple nations. She is nearing the end of her tour; following her final engagement in Germany, she will play three more shows in Poland, Austria, and England.

Lastly, the final eighteen performances of the Eras Tour will take place in October and December. Before playing the final nine shows in Canada, Swift will play nine dates in the United States.

Swift had a concert film released to celebrate the tour. On October 13, 2023, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour was released, and it quickly became popular. Over $260 million was earned throughout its record-breaking run at the box office. During its first weekend of release, the concert movie earned $93.2 million domestically.