Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce appeared to receive the benefit of favorable officiating during Sunday night’s AFC Championship win over the Buffalo Bills, as officials seemingly ignored what looked like a blatant taunting penalty on Kelce.
Late in the second quarter, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes scrambled out of the pocket and made a run for the end zone, ultimately scoring a touchdown with his legs.
As Mahomes crossed the goal line, Bills safety Damar Hamlin delivered a hit, sending Mahomes to the ground.
This immediately drew a reaction from Kelce.
Bills called for unsportsmanlike conduct. Kelce was talking in Hamlin's face. Phillips came over and hit Kelce in the helmet and got flagged pic.twitter.com/DjjlFZ94V0
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) January 27, 2025
The moment Mahomes hit the turf, Kelce ran up to Hamlin, got in his face, and shook his head while saying something to the Bills defender.
While Kelce was not given a flag for the play, Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips was penalized for stepping in and head-butting Kelce in an attempt to break up the exchange with Hamlin.
Though it’s unclear exactly what Kelce said, according to the NFL rulebook, this should have resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
The league explicitly prohibits “abusive, threatening, or insulting language or gestures to opponents” as well as “baiting or taunting acts or words that may engender ill will between teams.”
Given that Kelce sprinted toward Hamlin after a Chiefs touchdown and a legal hit and got in Hamlin’s face to provoke a reaction from the Bills, his actions were clearly taunting and should have drawn a flag.
Yet, the referees opted not to penalize him, seemingly affording Kelce preferential treatment, and fans were not happy about it on social media.
“Travis Kelce has a special ability in the NFL where he is the only person who is allowed to taunt their opponent and not get a flag called!” one fan commented in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“One of these days dude is going to be laid out on the field,” one person wrote on X.
“They don’t want to lose that Swifty crowd…,” another added.
“He’s dating Taylor Swift and plays with Patrick Mahomes. He could probably hit another player’s leg with a crowbar and not get penalized,” someone else chimed in.
“They don’t want to upset the Swifties, who they need to expand the fan base,” another person remarked.
“The league wants Taylor Swift since she brings in fans and money that usually don’t watch. It’s all about the money and extra ratings,” someone else added.
“It’s because he’s on the Chiefs. If it was any other team, it would have been a flag,” another fan commented.
As for the game itself, the Chiefs came out on top, clinching their third straight trip to the Super Bowl.
