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Kansas City Chiefs News
We officially know NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s stance on the perception that league officiating has some measure of Kansas City Chiefs-related bias.
Speaking to media members at his annual Super Bowl press conference, Goodell was asked multiple questions about the league’s officiating during the 2024 NFL season. On the assertion that officiating favors the Chiefs, Goodell laughed off the veracity of said claims as a “ridiculous theory,” likening it to the theories that the NFL is scripted.
“Well, this sort of reminds me a little bit of ‘the script,’ right? That I write a script, and I have the script for the entire season,” Goodell said with a chuckle. “Listen, you know, I think from a lot of a lot of those theories, are things that happen in social media, and they get a new life. As you say, it’s not your theory, but it’s out there. Nobody wants it to be their theory. And so I understand that. I think it reflects a lot of the passion of the fans, and I think it’s also a reminder for us how important officiating is.
“And I think the men and women officiating in the NFL are outstanding. They have the highest possible standards. That’s a ridiculous theory for anyone who might take it seriously, but at the end of the day, you know, it’s something we always have to continue to work on. How do we make our officiating better at all times? And if you look at the Chiefs record, which I think is an amazing thing, people talk about the competitiveness of our league. The Chiefs with their 15 wins, 15-2 this year, 11 of those 15 games were within one score. And I think that talks about the competitiveness of our game and the importance of how we officiate it, but also the competitiveness of how we play it.”
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The problem with these “social media” theories is that their validity is enhanced when they are adopted by respected NFL commentators, players, and coaches. Goodell doesn’t seem too concerned about this perception or related challenges; he is focused on improving officiating.
On the NFL’s referees, Goodell defended them and the difficulty of their job but also iterated that they are monitored in their personal lives and for their game-to-game performance.
Any changes to NFL officiating moving forward will involve using technology to enhance and assist referees in accurately and reliably performing their jobs.
“Well, I think, as you know, every network has so-called officiating experts who have been officials on our field, and I think they’ve been helpful in trying to explain those rules,” Goodell explained. “And I think we have been more transparent when we when we make a mistake on the field, we say it. We’re not afraid to do that. But there are so many times there’s confusion, or they don’t understand the rule, and that includes people on television too. . . And I think that’s something we continue to work on, to communicate better, educate better, but also to use technology. I think you know, this game has gotten so much faster. You’re seeing so much more than you did even six years ago. I challenge all of you to go back and look at an NFL game from the year 2000, the quality of what you see, the cameras, the angles, the number of cameras you see, it’s an awful lot more. So, we we want to use technology to supplement and assist and support the officials in getting it right.
“Replay assist this year, I think, was a big step forward for us. I see us in the future, adding more plays, and we’ll look at that with the competition committee. I think there are areas like facemasks and some of the other areas that I think we could add to that and assist the officials in what’s a very fast game. They don’t have the benefit of going back and looking at replays from 16 different angles and the time to debate. They’ve got to make a snap decision, and so again, I’m proud of what they do, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to continue to try to get better.”
As for the assertion of “flopping” or intentional attempts to draw a flag by Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, don’t expect the league to put an emphasis on it as leagues such as the NBA have in recent seasons.
