Former ESPN anchor Linda Cohn has publicly criticized Brittany Mahomes and Kelly Stafford, wives of NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford respectively, for their recent comments regarding officiating and game schedules.
Cohn addressed Mahomes's remarks on social media following the Kansas City Chiefs' loss to the Denver Broncos. Mahomes suggested that referees held a bias against the Chiefs after a crucial penalty nullified a potential game-winning touchdown. Cohn countered on her podcast, "You can’t tell me you call that on a game winning TD, oh wait yeah I can cause it’s us," Mahomes wrote on Instagram. Cohn responded, "Are we remembering the same football games, Brittany? You saw those." She pointed out that many outside of Kansas City have long perceived favorable calls for the Chiefs.
Cohn also called out Kelly Stafford for her complaints about the Los Angeles Rams' demanding schedule. Stafford had expressed exhaustion due to the team having only 10 days between games. While acknowledging the validity of discussions around player recovery, Cohn suggested that Stafford's personal fatigue might not resonate with a general audience. "Marriage to a quarterback doesn’t disqualify you from commentary, from having an opinion. It also doesn’t exempt your commentary from criticism," Cohn stated.
Cohn advised both Mahomes and Stafford to consider their words' reception by a broader audience with different life experiences. "Sometimes before you hit post, the most useful question is, how is this going to sound to somebody whose life looks very, very different from my own? Three words, know the room," she concluded.