Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce was asked on Monday night if he had a question for the media as reporters gathered at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans ahead of Super Bowl LIX.
Kelce swung for the fences.
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Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce talks to the media during Super Bowl LIX Opening Night at Ceasars Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 3, 2025. (Stephen Lew-Imagn Images)
“Why are you guys leaning into this whole ref thing?” Kelce asked. “You know what I mean? Like, why are you guys leaning into it? That’s all I got though.”
Alleged favoritism from NFL officials to the Chiefs has been a major topic of conversation since Kansas City defeated the Houston Texans in the divisional round. Two questionable penalties called in favor of the Chiefs sparked the conversation on social media.
But after a few head-scratchers in the AFC Championship against the Buffalo Bills, the social media chatter was taken from the keyboard to the Roger Goodell press conference on Monday.
Goodell threw cold water on the notion that there was any favoritism toward the Chiefs.
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“Why are you guys leaning into this whole ref thing?” Travis Kelce asked reporters. (James Lang-Imagn Images)
“This sort of reminds me a little bit of ‘the script,’ right? That I write a script and I have a script for the entire seasons,” he said. “I think a lot of those theories are things that happen in social media, and they get a new life.… Nobody wants it to be their theory.
“I understand it. I think it reflects a lot of the fans’ passion. I think it’s also a reminder for us on how important officiating is. I think the men and women officiating the NFL are outstanding. They have the highest possible standards. That’s a ridiculous theory for anyone who might take it seriously, but at the end of the day, it’s something we always have to continue to work on, how we make our officiating better at all times.”
Chiefs team owner Clark Hunt also dismantled the theory.
“You almost have to laugh at it, because you know how everybody in the NFL wants to compete to win, and that’s true of our guys as well. The referees are doing the best job that they can. If you look at the stats or a lot of stats, that shows that we’ve been on the wrong side of calls as often as we’ve been on the right side.” Hunt said in an interview with NFL Network.
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“There’s definitely no conspiracy, right? It’s the nature of the game. And when you start having a lot of success, people like to start making excuses for why you’re having the success.”
Fox News’ Ryan Canfield contributed to this report.
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