The NFL has once again come under fire for allegedly giving the Kansas City Chiefs preferential treatment after Taylor Swift met with an official ahead of Sunday’s game
The NFL has once again been put on blast for allegedly favoring the Kansas City Chiefs after one of the league’s officials shared a touching interaction with Taylor Swift.
On Sunday, Swift was in attendance at Arrowhead Stadium to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Chiefs in an AFC West clash with the Denver Broncos. Yet it was the pop icon’s actions in the leadup to Kansas City’s 16-14 win that drew the ire of critics.
According to KSNT 27 News’ Landon Reinhardt, Swift and Sarah Thomas – one of the referees overseeing the Chiefs game – briefly crossed paths prior to kickoff. “Sarah Thomas, the down judge (ref) for today’s Chiefs/Broncos game, briefly met with Taylor Swift before the game,” Reinhardt wrote on X.
“She was on FaceTime with family and I heard her say, ‘Did you get that screenshot?’”
The seemingly harmless meetup swiftly drew the ire of NFL fans, who argued that the incident proved that the league was providing the Chiefs with preferential treatment. “Helping the Chiefs get an automatic win,” one X user wrote, with another adding: “A pregame meet and greet with Taylor Swift outside the Chiefs locker room IS A BRIBE. This needs to be investigated and she should never see an NFL field again!”
A third asked: “@NFLOfficiating I mean just dress them in Chiefs uniforms. Do you have no integrity?”
Critics slammed the NFL for allowing Taylor Swift to meet with a league official ahead of Sunday’s Chiefs game (
Image:
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
In response to one person who argued that Reinhardt wasn’t helping with the “Chiefs refs allegations,” he replied: “Hahaha considered this, figured it to be too good of a story not to share.”
This is hardly the first time that the Chiefs have been accused of alleged favoritism. Last month, The Ringer’s Warren Sharp speculated that referee Adrian Hill was tasked with overseeing Kansas City’s matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders due to his reputation for favoring quarterbacks with penalty calls.
“This game was circled by the NFL, and you want to know what their reaction was? It was to put Adrian Hill as referee on this game when the time came,” Sharp said. “You know what Adrian Hill leads the NFL in? Roughing-the-passer penalties. Yup, he’s No. 1. He’s also No. 1 in neutral-zone penalties on the pass rush. He’s also No. 2 in overall defensive penalties.”
Sharp argued that the decision to assign Hill the contest should come as no surprise, considering Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce publicly divulged a desire to see his team physically break down Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes last season.
Back in September, former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski also claimed that the Chiefs receive far more beneficial penalty calls than the New England Patriots dynasty did over the last two decades.
“Yeah, the Chiefs get way more calls than the Patriots. I don’t even remember getting calls,” he said on the ‘Up & Adams’ podcast. “Specifically for myself, I didn’t get any calls, maybe as a team, I don’t know … Tom might have gotten some calls, but for myself, I used to get pounded, guys used to jump on my back and nothing would be called.”
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