Aside from continued talk about their sustained excellence, one narrative has followed the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs throughout the club's run to a third straight AFC title game victory and Super Bowl berth: that NFL officials favor the Chiefs in a sort of pro football conspiracy theory.

And Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce is tired of it.

In a cool moment at Super Bowl Opening Night, a child reporter asked Kelce what he'd ask the media if given the chance. And the Chiefs star didn't miss a beat.

"Why are you guys leaning into this whole ref thing?” Kelce asked. "You know what I mean? Like why are you guys leaning into it? That's all I got."

The narrative that the NFL and its officials favor the Chiefs, which seemed to grow legs on social media, is certainly not new. But the theories have taken off during Kansas City's postseason run this year, first after the team's divisional round win over the Houston Texans, after which Houston coach DeMeco Ryans and several Texans players indicated that they felt they were playing against the officials as much as they were against the Chiefs.

A couple of controversial calls in the Chiefs' AFC title game, especially the ball spot on a fourth quarter QB sneak by Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen, did nothing to dissuade the conspiracy theorists.

But Kelce isn't the only one tired of hearing about it.

Even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, during his yearly news conference ahead of the Super Bowl, called the notion that league officials favor the Chiefs a "ridiculous theory." Then, in an interview with NFL Network, Chiefs president Mark Donovan flipped the narrative on its head, pointing out that Kansas City has had "a lot of calls go against us too."

Such a narrative has placed the Chiefs in a villain role, one they have shown they are more than happy to embrace.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Travis Kelce Calls Out Media for 'Leaning Into' Chiefs-Referee Narrative.

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