During the NFL star's appearance on the "Bussin' With The Boys" podcast, Travis was asked about Taylor's mega-hit, "Karma" -- the one where she sings about a "guy on the screen coming straight home to me" ... or, at least, that's the OG line.

For the non-Swifties out there, it's a reference to British actor Joe Alwyn.

Travis deftly redirects hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan to T-Swift's recent rewrite of the lyrics, where she now references the "guy on the Chiefs" coming home to her.

Well, ya gotta see how it played out -- 'cause the guys didn't let it go that easily.

Instead, Will guesses the song was about another Taylor ex, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Travis just played it coy, saying ... "What happened?"

Here's the deal ... the hosts innocently stumbled into this awkward sitch -- they didn't know which ex the song was really about, and while Travis probably does know, he definitely wasn't about to talk about Taylor's past.

For the record, Taylor and Joe dated for 6 years before splitting in 2023.

Remember, Taylor famously changed the lyrics to reference Travis during her Buenos Aires tour stop in November -- and she's continued to sing it that way ever since.

Swifties were quick to applaud the Kansas City Chiefs tight-end for the interview, and his respectful tap dance around the topic.

As one fan put it on X ... "The way he handled that nonsense was great tbh."

Looks like Travis is focusing solely on his love story with Taylor ... which is stronger than ever, FWIW.

As TMZ previously reported ... the football star joined his pop star girlfriend onstage during "The Tortured Poets Department" era of her concert in London.