Reporter trolls Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce over Taylor Swift, referee controversies

A reporter trolled Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce during Super Bowl LIX Opening Night in New Orleans. Rich Shertenlieb posted a TikTok video of him covering the event. He first asked Mahomes if he had a favorite referee.

“That’s hilarious,” Mahomes said. All the refs are great. They do the best they can and go out there and play the game the right way.”

Insane: A reporter asked Patrick Mahomes who his favorite Referee is that helps the #Chiefs win games:

“For your whole career you’ve had so many great people help you win, so who is your favorite ref?”

😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/4CyYs0O1Ob

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 4, 2025

Shertenlieb then asked Patrick Mahomes if there was one ref he gave a Christmas card to every year. “Not that I can remember,” Mahomes replied. “I’ll talk to some of my teammates to figure it out.”

Shertenlieb did not have as much success with Travis Kelce when it came to having fun with him. While at Kelce’s booth, Shertenlieb asked him what he loved more, Taylor Swift or phantom 15-yard roughing the passer penalties in the playoffs.

Awful: A reporter asked Travis Kelce what he loves more Taylor Swift or Phantom 15-yard roughing the passer penalties.

Kelce clearly did not enjoy the question or find it funny.

This 'reporter' should be banned from all future events. pic.twitter.com/vv1Wi6o8aZ

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 4, 2025

“That’s a good question. Anybody else?” Kelce said.

Shertenlieb was leaning into what fans have been saying about the Chiefs. After watching Kansas City in the last two playoff games, most fans on social media said the NFL is fixed because the Chiefs are consistently getting favorable calls. It led to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell shutting down that notion during his Super Bowl LIX press conference.

Are Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Chiefs getting favorable calls?

“This sort of reminds me a little bit of the script,” he said during his state of the league address Monday, per ESPN. “That I write a script, and I have the script for the entire season … I think it reflects a lot of the fans’ passion, and I think it also is a reminder for us how important officiating is. And I think the men and women that officiate the NFL are outstanding. They have the highest possible standards.”

Goodell added, “Our officials are evaluated in several ways. It’s not just the performance on the field, but it’s things that go on in their own lives, and we have a very tight control over that. We monitor that very closely in a number of ways.”

Mahomes, Kelce and the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs are looking to be the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls. They will face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday.