Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce appeared to receive some preferential treatment from the referees during Sunday night’s AFC Championship victory over the Buffalo Bills. Late in the second quarter, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes scored a touchdown after evading defenders and sprinting towards the end zone. As he crossed the goal line, he was struck by Bills safety Damar Hamlin, prompting a reaction from Kelce.
Immediately after Mahomes scored, Kelce approached Hamlin, getting in his face with a smile and a shake of his head, clearly taunting the Bills defender. Despite this evident display, the referees chose not to penalize Kelce, indicating a distinct level of leniency toward the star tight end. One fan even remarked, “Travis Kelce has a special ability in the NFL where he is the only person who is allowed to taunt their opponent and not get a flag called!” in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
In a further display of inconsistency, while the referees let Kelce’s taunting go unpunished, they did flag Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips for a head-butt aimed at breaking up Kelce’s confrontation with Hamlin. In the end, the Chiefs triumphed, securing their spot in the Super Bowl for the third consecutive season.
