On one of many work trips to NFL cities – I think it was Pittsburgh – I had a rideshare conversation on my way to the airport that stuck with me.
The driver wanted to talk pro football. That isn’t uncommon when others find out what I do for a living, but he had a theory he wanted to run by me. Well, less of a theory, really. It was more of a certainty, in his mind, for which he sought educated agreement.
He was convinced that the NFL deliberately officiates games in the latter stages to benefit the team that is trailing, with referees making certain calls and decisions designed to increase the likelihood of close games and exciting finishes.
Wasn’t the craziest thing I’d ever heard.
Not saying I agreed with him. But I understood.
During the past few years, I’ve instinctively paid more attention to that sort of thing at end of NFL games. While I still don’t believe there’s anything to it, there were more than a few questionable calls that could’ve confirmed pre-existing beliefs – if that’s what someone was already looking to see.
Kind of like this Super Bowl 59 hubbub around NFL referees and the Kansas City Chiefs.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell called it “ridiculous.” Indeed, it doesn’t make sense for the NFL to orchestrate one team’s continued success to lure interest for the same reason it makes no sense for it to purposefully create close games to lure interest.
Because the NFL doesn’t NEED to do anything else to lure interest.
The NFL is the biggest and best by miles. You look at any list of televised audiences in any year for American programming, and it’s pretty much all NFL games with a few important college games sprinkled in there. This country adores football, and since it’s so passionate, you’ll see the wild conspiracies that, while fun and entertaining, ignore how the NFL has zero motivation to risk its credibility and jeopardize the throne it already occupies.
So, no, the Chiefs aren’t in cahoots with the league’s refs.
But I understand thinking it.
To me, such an overwhelming outcry isn’t a worthwhile theory as much as it’s just a whole bunch of people complaining in hopes of making something go away. Because unless you are a KC fan, by now, you are surely sick and tired of these Chiefs.
I know I’m sick and tired of these Chiefs. All those insufferable commercials. The fact that every little thing every Sunday – and every season – seems to fall just perfectly for them.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes gets calls, sure. But it’s in the way that Michael Jordan got calls. It’s because he’s Patrick Mahomes. It’s because Mahomes, much like Tom Brady once did, plays savvy enough to know how to draw penalties and take advantage of the NFL’s flawed eagerness to throw flags for breathing near any quarterback.
Doesn’t hurt, either, that the Chiefs tend to play most of their important games at Arrowhead Stadium, and home whistles are a real thing in sports.
If it’s a secret conspiracy, then it’s a failed one. Because everyone is talking about it. And those officiating suspicions about the Chiefs, really, are an acknowledgement of their dominance. It’s paying them the ultimate compliment in sports. As a fan, one could only dream of rooting for a team so inevitable that everyone can only assume they must be cheating.
Can’t take it seriously, though I remain amused by how much oxygen it’s getting.
I can only imagine the social-media anguish if the Chiefs get some awful roughing the passer call in their favor Sunday that turns the tide against the Philadelphia Eagles.
And, if so, you should ask yourself:
Were the Chiefs behind in the fourth quarter when it happened?
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