This gaslighting by the NFL—and remember, this company is a major one, seeking to expand globally, gets involved in politics—has reached a fever pitch. Let’s begin with the fact that only 2 teams (Pats, now Chiefs) have wildly succeeded over the last 25 years.
Dynasty-ism is good for business, a counter-intuitive truth the average fan tends not to grasp. Why wouldn’t the NFL spread the love, to generate more revenue? The answer is simple: A San Diego/Carolina Super Bowl could never generate the kind of excitement which loved/hated “chosen” teams like NE and KC can. (Or the 4 dynasties of the past, Lombardi’s Packers, Steelers, Joe Montana’s 49ers, Cowboys—there’s always a dynasty present).
That games are rigged (or “scripted”) is now routinely part of the conversation when it comes to football. At this point the NFL realizes this psychological twist adds to fan interest, as well, so the NFL (whose original teams started up with gambling winnings) can have its cake and eat it—fix games and not hide it. Ref calls are not reviewable. Rules which completely reverse big plays on the field are too ambiguous for anyone to really understand. (“Was that illegal holding?” Yes. No. Wait…) Therefore games are easily rigged with impunity by selectively calling—or not calling—game altering penalties—in a manner which has fans not sure, so fans of beloved, “helped,” teams accuse other fans of giving into “conspiracy theories.”
Now add in The Taylor Swift Gaslighting. The revenue created by Taylor Swift is immeasurable. Not since Super Bowl III (the underdog AFL Jets won and enabled the merger which made the NFL rich) was there a more compelling reason to fix a result. The NFL rigged it so the Chiefs (Taylor’s overnight favorite team) would win. The NFL is an entertainment business and can legally influence what happens on the field. Now fans who just ask that games not be rigged are accused of having a personal (or political!) objection to the singer. As well as being conspiracy nuts. America has never seemed crazier—thanks to football!
And now we have a new wrinkle. The Chiefs got their big Super Bowl win (as everyone expected) but one incident from that game has received more attention than any other. It makes sense (if anything can make sense these days in the world of the NFL) that the incident had little to do with the game itself (which is becoming increasingly irrelevant in today’s world of celebrity-driven dynasties whose members sell Head and Shoulders, State Farm, Pfizer vaccines, and receive favorable referee calls).
This Super Bowl incident threatens to upend a larger, prosperous, narrative. Travis Kelce, the star receiver of the Kansas City Chiefs (and 34 year old Taylor Swift’s current boyfriend,) was caught on one of the many CBS Super Bowl cameras, physically bumping and screaming in the face of his head coach in a scary moment on the sidelines.
As many respond negatively, many are rushing to the big tight end’s defense:
“Imma clear this up for everybody 
kelce was pulled an his back up went in for a run play, his back up missed his block. The guy he was supposed to block hit an caused the fumble from Pacheco. Kelce was angry because he was pulled an his back up did not understand his assignment. Ps… Andy Reid joked and laughed about it after the game. Y’all just crybabies.”
Here’s one of the responses to “crybabies:”
“No surprise the chiefs fans are trying to make this acceptable behavior. Unreal.”
I tend to agree with “Unreal.”
Kelce demonstrated psychotic rage. The above explanation only makes it worse. Players are not supposed to fumble, whether or not someone is blocked. So the wise football guys’ “imma clear this up for everybody” (who are Chief fans, no doubt) attempting to make light of this (obviously Andy Reid had to play down the incident publicly) are enabling scary behavior. For Kelce to approach his coach like this because another player fumbled is paranoid and weird.
An atmosphere of ‘winning’ surely involves players who have passion and are not afraid to be ‘coaches’ themselves, all demanding the best from each other. Football is a complex team sport. I honestly don’t know how much of this psychology angle (used by some Travis Kelce defenders) has merit. Those who believe the Super Bowl was “scripted” say everything we see is fake, including emotions expressed on the sidelines. The team who lost to the Chiefs did seem more somber and less communicative on the sidelines—was this because they knew they were supposed to lose?
Kansas City Chief fans—naturally, this is what “rooting” brings one to—feel the need to bring it to another level. Not only are the Chief fans “winners,” they are morally superior to other teams and their fans. The Baltimore Ravens were ridiculed in their loss to the Chiefs because even though it was pretty obvious the Ravens were the superior team, Baltimore, in a home game, no less, had, according to Chief fans, some kind of emotional meltdown because they couldn’t handle the playoff “pressure,” whereas the Chiefs, the cool gentlemen, could. The Ravens were guilty of “taunting” and “unsportsmanlike” penalties, (15 yards) even though one could see both teams expressing emotion, but in the WWE world of the NFL, the Ravens are the “bad boys” and the Chiefs the guys in the white hats.
The Kelce rage incident gives the lie to the Kansas City and NFL narrative of the Ravens game, which is why Chief (and even Taylor) fans are now falling over themselves trying to justify Kelce’s manic episode, distraught that the NFL and the Chiefs’ carefully crafted noble and upright dynasty narrative is falling apart.
Winning is good. But how much do you need to win?
The Tom Brady v Patrick Mahomes GOAT (greatest of all time) debates are part of the same psychosis, though on a more harmless, nerdy level. Football is a team sport. Unlike a baseball pitcher who can paint the corners and dominate a game, a quarterback depends on a host of players and coaches to succeed. A QB simply cannot—ever—win a game by themselves. In GOAT talk, circumstances and luck (and rigging, perhaps) are ignored in favor of crushing on certain guys who happen to play football, in a manner totally out of touch with reality.
Welcome to America.
It’s all good.
Because gaslighting, unfortunately, sells.