The Kansas City Chiefs are once again Super Bowl bound, but this time they're facing a different kind of pressure. Their recent dominance has sparked accusations of preferential treatment from referees and fueled conspiracy theories among opposing fans.
Donna Kelce, alongside her son, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce , and Taylor Swift, were photographed after the NFL AFC Championship game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, January 26, 2025, in Kansas City, Missouri. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)A team with an arm like few others captured the imagination. A respected coach hoisted the Lombardi Trophy for the first time and a championship that had been monopolized by the coastal elites returned to the heartland.
“People hate the Chiefs?” Travis Kelce asked facetiously after answering three straight questions about pop star Taylor Swift. “I didn’t know that.” The Chiefs, who had yet to make their fifth Super Bowl appearance in six years—before becoming the polarizing entity you now see, have become public enemy number one. New England’s reign grew tiresome to the rest of the NFL.“It’s fun looking back five or six years ago when we made Super Bowl LIV,” Travis Kelce said. “We felt like we had a lot of the country behind us. The Chiefs are in the midst of their villain turn. Patrick Mahomes and his teammates wouldn’t have it any other way. “We believe we play the game the right way. We believe we play with a lot of heart and a lot of passion. It kinda brings you closer together when people are rooting against you. You become a tighter brotherhood in that locker room.”Disclaimer: Dominance can enflame conspiracy theories in some opposing fan bases. The most common side effect concerns officiating. “If I could ask the media one question, why are you guys leaning into the whole ref thing?” Kelce asked. “You know what I mean? Why are you guys leaning into it? Kansas City went 15-2 in the regular season. The bulk of those victories (11) came in games in which only one score separated the two teams. The Chiefs added to that total with a 32-29 win over the Bills in the AFC Championship Game. There are two ways to justify the losses in these games. The first is that the Chiefs are the superior team and their star players consistently step up in big moments to make the decisive play. The second is that the 17 officiating crews and 138 officials in the NFL consistently make calls in games that favor Kansas City. The Hunt family has a minority stake in the Chicago Bulls. Hunt remembers fans complaining during the team’s championship run in the 1990s that they got all the calls and the NBA was rigged to accommodate Michael Jordan. “A lot of those theories are things that happen in social media and get a new life,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a Monday press conference to kick off Super Bowl week. “It’s not your theory, but it’s out there. Nobody wants it to be their theory. The impact on the Chiefs from all of this appears minimal. Kelce said he doesn’t let outside noise fuel or motivate him. Mahomes said it’s enough to know that their team goes about it the right way. “We win football games,” Mahomes said. “If winning football games makes you a villain, we’re going to go out there and keep doing it.
Kansas City Chiefs NFL Super Bowl Patrick Mahomes Travis Kelce Officiating Conspiracy Theories
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