Most people have been aware that Taylor Swift has been dating the Kansas City Chiefs’ star player, Travis Kelce, but recently she posted an Instagram with the caption “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” revealing they had gotten engaged.
Last season, it was already prevalent that the referees were being biased for the Chiefs. As shown when three officials were fired by the NFL for their bias towards them on close calls. According to footballzebras.com second-year umpire James Carter, third-year line judge Robin DeLorenzo, and first-year down judge Robert Richeson have been noted as biased. Officials could become more biased towards the Chiefs this year now that Kelce and Swift are engaged.
The NFL’s bias towards the best teams isn’t a new phenomenon: on January 19, 2002, the Patriots’ old star quarterback, Tom Brady, was tackled, and the ball he was holding came loose. Normally, this would be ruled a fumble and a turnover, but instead, the referees officiating the game said that he appeared to tuck the ball and then throw it, ruling it an incomplete pass. Therefore, the Patriots got to keep the ball, and the play was ruled incomplete. Later, the NFL got rid of this tuck rule, leading Tom Brady to acknowledge that the play was a fumble. This one play changed the course of the game and led to the Patriots winning, all because of the referee’s bias towards a star player.
“They had a bunch of close games that would have been either way. I think they were just probably like 5 plays away from not even making the playoffs if you really think about it,” Fielding said.
It’s important to mention that the Chiefs were 3-0 when these referees were in attendance. This is a very odd coincidence, showing that the referees were doing more than just making bad calls. The Chiefs have been winning these big-time games due to bad officiating and bias towards them. As well as having a big-time celebrity engaged to one of their players. It’s been making the small market teams get fewer views and profit compared to the Super Bowl making Chiefs.
“There’s a lot of small market teams that still have very passionate fan bases, and it makes them feel less important than the Chiefs,” Fielding said.
Swift has been featured on camera numerous times during games after Kelce makes a big play. The most notable feature was on October 1st 2023, during a Chiefs vs Jets game, where Swift was put on camera 17 different times. Camera crews doing this multiple times per season sometimes makes the game feel more about Swift and Kelce and not about the team.
“They’re taking direct spotlight and attention with their camera crews away from the players on the field,” sophomore Aiden Thomas said.
The NFL is an incredibly large organization that makes billions of dollars. OSo just one influencer being a fan of a team shouldn’t dictate what the officials are being biased towards. However, But very famous and notable players on the same team could make the NFL turn a blind eyeside to the bias.
“An organization of that size cannot be influenced by a single person, no matter what their worth is,” Thomas said.
