Ex-NFL star Julian Edelman slams Chiefs’ referee favoritism: ‘Bunch of bull-oney’
Former NFL wide receiver Julian Edelman heard it all when he was playing for the New England Patriots when it came to referees always being on their side.
The Kansas City Chiefs are going through the same thing as they’re on the cusp of history, as they could be the first team ever to win three straight Super Bowls. Not even Edelman and the Tom Brady-led Patriots were able to accomplish that during their dynasty.
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Wide receiver Julian Edelman #11 of the New England Patriots gestures toward the crowd as he runs onto the field prior to a game against the Cleveland Browns on October 27, 2019 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. New England won 27-13. (Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
During an appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Edelman was asked by the program’s namesake if he’d heard about the referee favoritism conspiracy theories going around during this year’s playoff run, specifically when it came to his own experience dealing with that during his days in Foxborough.
“It’s apparent when you’re on top, everyone wants to bring you down,” Edelman responded. “It’s a bunch of baloney that the league is helping the Kansas City Chiefs. If you have a problem with it, go beat ‘em. The refs aren’t involved when you throw interceptions, when you fumble the ball, when you jump offsides, when you don’t convert third down or fourth down. They can’t control that. If you want to beat ‘em, go beat ‘em. Don’t talk about it – be about it. I’m so sick and tired about people saying that about the Chiefs.”
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Edelman faced similar criticism during his time with the Patriots from 2009-2020, where he was a three-time Super Bowl champion (2014, 2016, 2018). Fans would theorize that the referees were favoring Brady and the Patriots throughout those Super Bowl runs, but Edelman shed some reality on the situation.
“We all have scouting reports on each ref crew and how they like to [call] the game,” he said. “You learn about it during that first part of that game. If they’re calling it tight, you tighten back. If they’re not, you just hope they’re consistent throughout the whole thing, which they usually are.
FILE – Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) and quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) wait to lead the team onto the field before a preseason NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Aug. 10, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
“Yes, they miss calls and they do these things, and there’s some bad calls here and there. But there’s a handful of roughing the passers for guys that don’t even have a resume that you looked at this year that got the call. If it’s close, leave it alone. Yeah, they’ll probably have to address that sideline awareness stuff, but these whole graphics about, ‘Oh, they get the call, and they don’t give the call to them.’ Because they’re coached better.”
Because of the dynasty talk revolving around the Chiefs, the natural comparison to the Patriots, which was the league’s last dynasty, have been made.
Eisen asked Edelman if he sees any similarities between his Patriots teams and the Chiefs in recent years.
It all comes down to getting the job done in clutch situations.
Julian Edelman speaks on stage during Stagwell Panels at Cannes Lions on June 20, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Lionel Hahn/Getty Images for Stagwell)
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“They’re situational tight,” Edelman said. “You watch them on third down, you watch them in the red area. A lot of these games when you get to this time of the year, they’re not won by the team that makes the most plays. Yeah, that’s part of it. It’s always the team that makes the least amount of mistakes. That’s what they do. They play mistake-free, they play situationally tight, they’ll lull you to sleep, and then they’ll beat you when they need to. That’s stuff we used to do.”
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