During the New England Patriots’ dynastic run in early 2000s, the NFL conducted two aggressive and, some could argue, overreaching investigations into the franchise — “Spygate” in 2007 and “Deflategate” in 2015.
They resulted in cumulative penalties that included the stripping of two first-round draft picks, one fourth-round pick, $1.25 million in fines for the franchise, a $500,000 fine to head coach Bill Belichick and a four-game suspension for star quarterback Tom Brady.
That doesn’t count the extensive legal fees required to defend themselves, including battles that went into federal court, let alone the non-monetary damage of tarnished reputations (deserved or not).
All along, the Patriots fought back with everything from public relations campaigns to Belichick repeatedly disparaging the “league office” in every imaginable way, such as listing Brady as “probable” on the injury report due to a shoulder ailment week after week for seasons on end.
This was war.
And yet, pretty much anytime New England got the better end of a close officiating decision during a game, fans would cry that the NFL was favoring the Patriots and the sport was fixed.
If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had such power or was willing to risk incarceration and shame to deploy it, common sense suggests the results would have been the precise opposite of helping Belichick and Brady.
The refs would have screwed New England at every turn.
So, no, the NFL wasn’t, and isn’t, scripted or rigged or under commissioner control … even as Kansas City advances to another Super Bowl after benefitting from multiple close, if not questionable, calls in a 32-29 AFC championship game victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night.
Yes, it sure looked like Josh Allen gained the necessary inches to convert on that critical fourth quarter fourth-and-1 — just as it sure looked like Dalton Kincaid made the line to gain the play prior.
And yes, the ball seemed to hit the ground in the first half in what was ruled a catch by Xavier Worthy on a Chiefs touchdown drive.
If you are a Bills fan, you curse and fume and lament. There is also the matter of mismanaged extra points, a missed catch by Kincaid on the Bills’ final drive and other mistakes that decided a game that was incredibly close.
It doesn’t mean the fix was in for the Chiefs — who may have gotten some nice calls but also made so many critical plays down the stretch to win again. The refs are not the reason Kansas City has prevailed in 17 consecutive one-score games and are headed to another Super Bowl.
They earned it, in part by taking advantage of every break given. It was the same with New England.
For there to be a major conspiracy behind this means someone — presumably Goodell — is willing to risk unemployment, shame and multiple federal felonies to dictate who makes the Super Bowl. It would need the cooperation of referees, among others.
For what purpose?
Yes, Patrick Mahomes is the biggest star in the league and Taylor Swift will presumably show up in New Orleans. That said, much of the public is tired of the Chiefs and were rooted in the storyline of Buffalo finally winning it all. It’s possible more people would watch the Super Bowl if it was Buffalo-Philadelphia.
In terms of the ticket and travel market for the game, there is no debate. The Bills Mafia would have been far better for business than a Chiefs fan base making their fifth appearance in six years.
If the league was seeking to orchestrate who makes the Super Bowl — or succeeds at all — then why haven’t the Dallas Cowboys made even the NFC title game in three decades? Why are both New York teams terrible? How did non-traditional teams or small markets such as Buffalo, Detroit, Minnesota and Kansas City do so well this season?
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Regardless, if there was a vast plot to do this — say the NFL really did want New England to win back in the day — why would other team owners go along with it? These are hyper-competitive, egomaniacal billionaires. Their happiness is built on fawning praise from fans, not helping Fox or CBS score an extra percentage point or two of television ratings.
Now, do the refs naturally — perhaps without realizing it — favor the Chiefs because they are famous and successful? That’s possible. But if anything, the memes and social media jokes last week about how Mahomes gets every roughing the passer call would seemingly cause referees to calibrate in favor of Buffalo (or any opponent).
Yes, watching Allen seemingly gain a first down only to not get the first down — despite video replay — will remain frustrating. It was a bad call.
That’s the imperfect nature of sports.
Put a chip in the football if you want it resolved.
It doesn’t mean anyone is fixing things for Kansas City. New England’s success amid a prolonged and personal fight with the NFL long ago proved that.