A Super Bowl reporter did his best to get a rise out of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce with a particular line of questioning.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been forced to defend the league’s referees after unsubstantiated claims of bias towards the Kansas City Chiefs.
The row has overshadowed some of the build-up to Sunday’s showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans.
Chiefs stars Mahomes and Kelce were shocked by an unnamed reporter during their media availability on Monday.
“For your whole career, you have had so many great people help you win, so who is your favorite ref?” Mahomes was asked rather tongue in cheek.
“That’s hilarious,” replied the Chiefs quarterback, who was not entertaining the idea that his team have been the beneficiaries of any leniency in any way.
“No, all the refs are great. All the refs are great. They do the best they can, go out there and play the game the right way.”
The reporter pressed him again and asked if he’d ever sent a Christmas card to a ref.
“Not that I can remember. I’ll talk to some of my teammates to figure it out,” Mahomes replied.
The same reporter also tried to get under Kelce’s skin.
“Travis, what do you love more [girlfriend] Taylor Swift or phantom 15-yard roughing the passer penalties in the playoffs,” he asked.
“That’s a good question, anybody else?” Kelce replied bluntly.
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While the players did not take the bait, other fans on their behalf used to social media to take issue with the suggestion they cheat.
“Pretty much a dirtbag move from the reporter in my opinion. Have the Chiefs had the benefit of controversial calls over the years go their way? Yes, they have. But the other teams need to make sure they crush them on the field so there’s no doubt,” wrote one.
“This is just classless by that reporter. Hey, it’s not open mic at the comedy club,” added another.
“He handles that pretty well could have been way worse,” a third said of Mahomes. “Kinda funny but he handled it well.”
Goodell earlier gave his own response to claims the NFL is ‘rigged.’
“This reminds me a little bit of the script — that I write a script for the entire season, right?’ he said.
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“A lot of those theories that are things that happen on social media and they get a lot of life. I think it reflects a lot of the fans’ passion.
“And it’s also a reminder for us how important officiating is. I I think the men and women that officiate in 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 do we make our officiating better?”
NFL Referees Association executive director Scott Green released a statement on Tuesday to try and put an end to the speculation.
“Commissioner Goodell’s comments that it is ‘ridiculous’ to presume that NFL officials are not doing everything possible to make the right call on every play is spot on,” he said.
“Officiating crews do not work the same team more than twice each regular season.
“It is insulting and preposterous to hear conspiracy theories that somehow 17 officiating crews consisting of 138 officials are colluding to assist one team.”
If the Chiefs win a third unprecedented Super Bowl, there will inevitably be a race to find any hint of controversy to try and bring them down.
All Mahomes and Kelce can do is execute on the field as they have done for years.
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