You can add former NFL star wide receiver and Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens to the list of folks who believe the conspiracy theory that the referees are out to fix games for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Throughout the 2024 season, NFL referees have faced countless accusations of rigging games to help the Kansas City Chiefs. The defending Super Bowl champions have benefited from plenty of questionable calls this year, including the Divisional Round and AFC Championship Game vs. the Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills, respectively.
If you’ve been on X/Twitter during Chiefs games this year, you’ve probably come across angry comments and accusations from fans about the league rigging games for Patrick Mahomes and company.
Even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had to address it on Monday, telling reporters the theory is “ridiculous.”
During an appearance on the “It Is What It Is” podcast, Terrell Owens admitted that he’s buying the “refs are helping Kansas City” conspiracy theory:
“I played the game. I’m watching the game, and I’m looking at all these calls that’s benefitting the Kansas City Chiefs. Look at the game before against the Texans.Mahomes is smart…causing the flag. He’s getting the benefit of the…he didn’t even get hit, 15-yard flag. Will Anderson barely hit him, another that can stop the momentum of the game.
You can even go back to the last couple of Super Bowls, even when the Niners played the Super Bowl. Look at all the holding calls. If you watch that tape, bro, it was crazy. They were getting clotheslined. They were not calling it. It was blatant calls that were hits…it’s unreal. I’ve never thought I would say that games were rigged…bro, it is unreal at the amount of calls that are not called against the Kansas City Chiefs that are called against everybody else.”
🚨BREAKING: #NFL LEGEND TERRELL OWENS SAYS THAT THE #NFL IS RIGGED FOR THE #CHIEFS.
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) February 3, 2025
TO says that the refs have rigged games in favor of Kansas City all season long, and they’ve done this for multiple years in the Super Bowl now.
THIS IS WILD… 🤯🤯🤯pic.twitter.com/nqDhgUuSde
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Even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had to address it on Monday, telling reporters the theory is “ridiculous.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on officiating that favors Chiefs: "It reminds of the script, that I write a script for the entire season…It’s a ridiculous theory, for anyone who might take it seriously."
— Blair Kerkhoff (@BlairKerkhoff) February 3, 2025
The Texans-Chiefs game was highlighted by questionable roughing the passer and unnecessary roughness penalties drawn by Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In the AFC title game, the officials curiously called Josh Allen short of a first down on a 4th-and-inches QB sneak, when it looked like he passed the marker.
So yes, the refs will very much be under the microscope for Super Bowl 59 on Sunday.
Terrell Owens Isn’t The Only Former NFL Star Who Believes This
Former NFL running backs Larry Johnson and Arian Foster have also claimed that the NFL is scripted/rigged. So of course, disgruntled fans are going to take their words and run with it as “evidence” that the league really is fixing games.
