The Kansas City Chiefs are destined to be the Super Bowl champions once again. How could they fail this one when the NFL officials were biased for them? Well, these have been the narratives and sentiments on social media last season when the Chiefs were winning. However, to clarify all the doubts that the Chiefs aren’t being favored, the franchise’s owner, Clark Hunt’s wife, Tavia Hunt, shared a true fact!

The 53-year-old Chiefs owner, Tavia Hunt, recently shared an Instagram story clapping back to all the haters who think the Red Army gets all the favors in the NFL games. She shared a post, originally uploaded by a sports commentator, Farzin Vousoughian, which says: “Penalties In Super Bowls 54, 55, 57 & 58 Combined.” To everyone’s surprise, a total of 24 penalties have been given to the Chiefs, while 21 have been given to their opponents in the Super Bowl during the above-mentioned years.

Additionally, it states that the Chiefs have been penalized for 213 yards, compared to 157 yards for other teams. Hence, the sentiments of the Chiefs being favored in Super Bowls stands no true when we consider these facts. Not only that, even former NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino called all these accusations for the league of “rigging” games, “nonsense.”

During an interview on KCSP (610 AM) last October, Blandino admitted that talking about the officials being biased are generally common for the teams who are successful in the league. He expressed, “Around the league when the Patriots were winning six Super Bowls, that was kind of the feeling that they were getting a lot of the calls. These things tend to kind of even out over the course of time. Officials go into a game, they don’t look at the two teams in terms of what their records are. They don’t look at any of that.”

The FOX Sports analyst, Blandino, also explained that the referees don’t focus on the teams’ record when officiating, instead the NFL closely monitors and evaluates. Hence, these evaluations affect whether the teams get playoff assignments or remain in the league. So, does that mean the Chiefs weren’t favored in any of the games?

Where did the allegations come from?

Late in the game between the Chiefs and the Vikings the previous year, the officials made a decision that left fans fuming. The world saw a pass interference flag thrown on L’Jarius Sneed, and was picked up. This added fuel to the fire when Sneed wasn’t penalized for removing his helmet. The crowd was livid, too. But here’s the catch!

Analyst Dean Blandino, along with Gene Steratore, thought the call was right. Blandino explained that Addison, the Vikings’ receiver, wasn’t even trying to get back to the ball. The two players were just hand-fighting, and after some discussion, the officials decided there wasn’t enough contact to warrant a penalty. However, Blandino also admitted that Sneed’s helmet removal should have been flagged, but he still stood by the decision on the interference. This moment became yet another talking point for fans accusing the NFL of favoring certain teams.

Conspiracies started swirling about how the league manipulates outcomes, especially with the rise of sports favoritism. And then there was Shawn Smith, the referee for the AFC Championship Game, who had a reputation for favoring road teams – like the Chiefs. Fans even went so far as to bring Taylor Swift into the mix, hinting that the league wanted more Swift moments on TV by ensuring the Chiefs’ win. While it sounds wild, it shows just how deep the frustration runs when officiating decisions get called into question. Nevertheless, if we look at the facts, perhaps the officiating by the refs is not done while seeing which team is performing; it’s done on the game plays. But then again when it comes to their favorite team, one can imagine how wild sports fans can get.

By the time you’re here, check out our Dual Threat Show with BG12, in which Chris Gronkowski shared his insights about the league!