National outrage over questionable penalties called during the Kansas City Chiefs’ playoff game against the Houston Texans made its way to Travis Kelce’s podcast Wednesday, but he stayed on the sidelines of the debate.
After NFL referees called two roughing the passer penalties after hits on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes during Saturday’s divisional round game, Texans players and head coach DeMeco Ryans suggested officials sided with Kansas City. Many fans expressed grievances about the questionable penalties on social media.
Kelce and his brother Jason read some of the outraged tweets during Wendesday’s episode of their podcast, “New Heights,” but Travis refused to speak about the issue.
“I’d like to plead the Fifth,” the tight end said, jokingly referring to his constitutional right to remain silent.
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Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce (Imagn)
Jason described one of the penalties as “completely, absolutely ridiculous.”
“He didn’t even get touched,” Jason said. “I understand why they called it. I just think it was a bad call.”
Travis is one of the few people to remain silent on the matter as the penalties were among the most debated topics in football over the last week.
Mahomes has since defended referees for the penalties multiple times. The quarterback was asked by reporters Wednesday if he believed referees were giving him preferential treatment.
“I don’t feel that way,” Mahomes answered. “At the end of the day, the referees are doing their best to call the game as fair and as proper as they possibly can. And all you can do is go out there and play the game that you love as hard as you can and live with the results. … I think that’s what we preach here in Kansas City.
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The homes of Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce were reportedly burglarized last month. (Imagn)
“You get new referees every year, you get new circumstances and you never can really tell because every play’s different. And that’s what makes the NFL so special. I feel like I’ve just continued to play the game, and I just try to win. And whatever happens kind of happens.”
Mahomes defended the referees Tuesday during a radio interview on 96.5 The Fan.
“I‘ve kind of learned that no matter what happens during the game, something’s going to come out about it if you win and you continue to win. So, I don’t really pay attention to it,” Mahomes said.
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“I mean, obviously, I’ve been on both sides of it as far as how I felt the calls were made, but, at the end of the day, man, those guys are doing their best to make the best calls and keep it to where the players are making the plays in the game.
“And that’s what decides the outcome. And obviously there was a call here or there that people didn’t agree with, but, at the same time, I think there was a lot of other plays that really decided the outcome of that football game.”
Head referee Clay Martin explained the calls to a pool reporter after the game, saying one of the controversial calls was a result of “forcible contact to the face mask area,” which warranted a flag. He said there was forcible contact to Mahomes’ “hairline” on another unnecessary roughness call.
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