Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce seemed to receive favorable treatment from the officials during Sunday night’s AFC Championship victory over the Buffalo Bills.
Late in the second quarter, Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes scrambled out of the pocket and sprinted toward the end zone, scoring a touchdown with his legs.
As Mahomes crossed the goal line, Bills safety Damar Hamlin delivered a hit, prompting 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
Immediately after Mahomes scored, Kelce ran over to Hamlin, got in his face, shook his head, and smiled at the Bills defender.
Kelce’s actions appeared to be clearly taunting, which should have drawn a penalty. However, the referees chose not to throw a penalty flag.
“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 noted in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Not only did Kelce avoid a penalty for taunting, but Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips was flagged after running up to Kelce and head-butting him to break up the confrontation with Hamlin.
Needless to say, this whole situation led to a lot of reactions on social media.
“One of these days dude is going to laid out on the field,” one person wrote on X.
“They don’t want to lose that Swifty crowd…,” someone else 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,” another person added.
“They don’t want to upset the Swifties, who they need to expand the fan base,” someone else said.
“The league wants Taylor Shift since she brings in fans and money that usually don’t watch. It’s all about the money and extra ratings,” another person added.
“It’s because he’s on the Chiefs. If it was any other team, it would have been a flag,” someone else said.
As for the game itself, the Chiefs emerged victorious, securing their spot in the Super Bowl for the third consecutive season.
