Former NFL Head of Officiating Shoots Down Idea of Pro-Chiefs Conspiracy

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are looking to win their third consecutive championship at Super Bowl LIX.
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are looking to win their third consecutive championship at Super Bowl LIX. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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Dean Blandino wants to assure NFL fans there is no conspiracy to favor the Kansas City Chiefs and give them extra calls. Even if it seems that way at times.

Blandino was the head of NFL officiating from 2013 through '17, and now works as Fox Sports' NFL and college football rules analyst. On Tuesday, he told TMZ Sports he's confident there's no mandate from the NFL to its officials to favor the Chiefs.

"If there's a room somewhere in the NFL offices where they were writing the script, they never invited me, and I was the head of officiating," Blandino said. "I feel like I'd be a pretty important contributor to that."

He added that if such a directive existed, it wouldn't stay hidden for long. "Someone somewhere would slip up and it would get out," Blandino said.

The 53-year-old admitted that officials get calls wrong and teams do benefit from those mistakes, but a grand conspiracy isn't the answer for why it happens.

In an odd twist to this story, Blandino claims his brother believes the NFL is rigged to favor Taylor Swift and the Chiefs. He does not share his brother's views.


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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.