Dan Blandino, the former head of NFL referees, has astonishingly revealed how his own brother thinks there is a conspiracy where officials continue to rig games.
It comes amid ongoing claims from fans that officials have tried to get the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl as Andy Reid’s team pursue an unprecedented ‘three-peat’.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes benefitted from some questionable calls in the recent playoff win over Houston Texans – which sparked outrage led by Dave Portnoy.
Now, speaking on the DA show on Sirius, Blandino said: ‘Look, the Chiefs have gotten the benefit of calls, right, but good teams make their own breaks – you think about the Patriots.
‘My brother, who is convinced the league is rigged, that is convinced that I signed an NDA [Non-Disclosure Agreement] when I left the league office that I cannot tell anybody that it’s rigged because I was head of officiating.
‘We grew up in the same household, by the way.’
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He added that he has unsuccessfully tried to convince his brother he is wrong, saying: ‘I said, ‘Listen, there’s no conspiracy”. There’s too many variables, there’s too much going on. To me, it’s the hardest sport.
‘When you think about football, with seven different officials, to say, ‘OK, I’m going to rig this game’ or “The game is rigged from the league office down.”
‘The officials are just trying to get it right, and you can’t tell me the Chiefs have made seven straight AFC Championship games, they’re going to play for the three-peat, they’re going to play in four Super Bowls in six years, that it’s just because of the officiating.’
But does he think the Chiefs have made benefitted from some questionable calls?
‘They’re a good team, and they make their own breaks,’ he answered. ‘Yes, have they gotten the benefit of calls? Sure.
‘Other teams get benefit of calls. I just think right now the narrative is so out there that any time any close call goes for the Chiefs it’s, ‘Oh, here we go again, here we go again.’
‘And I’m sure Super Bowl Sunday, we’re going to hear it for the next two weeks.’
The Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl in New Orleans on February 9.
Dean Blandino, the former NFL head of refereeing, has shut down those conspiracies
Speaking after the Texans win, Chiefs quarterback Mahomes dismissed suggestions officials favor the Chiefs.
‘I‘ve kind of learned that no matter what happens during the game, that something’s going to come out about it if you win and you continue to win, so I don’t really pay attention to it,’ he said.
‘I’ve been on both sides of it as far as how I felt the calls were made, but at the end of the day, man, those guys are doing their best to make the best calls and keep it to where the players are making the plays in the game.
‘That’s what decides the outcome. And obviously there was a call here or there that people didn’t agree with, but at the same time, I think there was a lot of other plays that really decided the outcome of that football game
