Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has sided with the referees regarding a crucial penalty that contributed to his team's late loss against the Denver Broncos, undermining his wife Brittany Mahomes' public criticism of the officials. The Chiefs were penalized for a false start on a potential game-winning touchdown pass, pushing them back and ultimately leading to a fourth-down sack.
Brittany Mahomes expressed her frustration on social media, calling the flag "the weakest call I have ever seen." However, Travis Kelce, on his "New Heights" podcast with his brother Jason, stated that the penalty was legitimate. "A lot of people are saying this wasn't a penalty; I'm going to go on record and say that this is definitely a penalty," Jason Kelce said, with Travis agreeing, "Yeah, he flinches."
Travis Kelce also emphasized that the team still had an opportunity to win the game despite the penalty. "At the end of the day, we still had another play," Travis said. "I'll take my guy Pat Mahomes on the six-yard line with the game on the line. I'll take that any day of the week. So we gotta execute at the end even more. We can't let the penalty absolutely deflate us and not let us execute at the end of the game."
Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs quarterback, also commented on the controversial call, suggesting it was called in a critical moment when such penalties are often overlooked. "It couldn't have been big, but it was called," Mahomes told reporters. "At the end of the day, you have to go with whatever is called, but a lot of times in those big moments, the little stuff doesn't get called like that."
The controversy has also drawn commentary from former players. Retired safety Justin Simmons accused the Chiefs of "cheating" since Patrick Mahomes joined the team, and criticized Chiefs fans he called "delusional" for questioning the false start call. Simmons argued that the perception of favorable officiating towards the Chiefs, influenced by media coverage, has been a long-standing issue.