In January of 2019, the Chiefs were set to face off against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game. The Patriots had just been to two straight super bowls, and 3 in the previous 4 seasons leading up to the 2018 season. They were hated by NFL fans across the league, if anything could unite opposing fanbases, it was their joint hatred of the dominant New England Patriots. For this AFC championship, the whole country, other than the New England area of course, was in full support of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. It is crazy to see how much things have changed in just 5 years.

So why is that the Chiefs are now so disliked? What is it about this team that has fans across the league so riled up against them? To start, the chiefs have been dominating the NFL, much like the 2010s Patriots, every year for the past 6 seasons. They have made it to 6 consecutive conference championships, and have won 2 Super Bowls. The NFL is the hardest sport to keep a good roster together throughout the years, so this level of success for this long is incredibly rare. Many fans across the league have to watch as their team disappoints them year after year, so seeing a team like the chiefs win for this long is frustrating.

Another reason the chiefs are so unlikeable is because of the questionable officiating that occurs during their games. In many Chiefs games, especially during the playoffs, it seems like every major call happens to go their way. During last year’s AFC Championship on the final drive of the game, Mahomes was tackled out of bounds, but an unnecessary roughness penalty was called. This penalty set the Chiefs up in field goal range, allowing them to kick an easy field goal and go to another Super Bowl. Then in last year’s Super Bowl, once again there was a major penalty on the final drive of the game. A holding was called against an Eagles player, even though it looked like he barely touched the Chief’s defender. This penalty allowed the Chiefs to run out the clock and kick the game winning Super Bowl kick. These questionable calls are extremely frustrating to watch as a sports fan, and they make fans want to root against the Chiefs because of it.

During most of the Chiefs primetime games, especially on CBS and NBS, the commentary is incredibly biased towards the Chiefs. It’s almost like the announcers are actually rooting for Mahomes, specifically Tony Romo and Chris Collinsworth. After every single play Mahomes makes, even if the play isn’t that special, both of these announcers will praise Mahomes like he just made one of the greatest plays of all time. They will say things like “What an incredible play by Patrick Mahomes” and “Only Mahomes can make a play like that, there is truly no one like this guy” throughout every single broadcast. This is absolutely unbearable for sports fans to listen to, especially if you’re a fan of the opposing team.

Finally, what makes the chiefs unlikable more than anything else, is the social media attention the team receives outside of football. Patrick Mahomes wife and brother have a sizable social media presence, and they are what can only be described as unbelievably annoying. It’s hard for me to describe just how annoying they are in words, so I recommend checking out their socials yourself if you’re curious.

The main part of social media that makes the chiefs so unlikeable is the nonstop coverage of Taylor Swift and her connection to Travis Kelce. Every sports site on social media that posts about the NFL is constantly posting about Taylor Swift, as if real football fans would ever care. It’s already annoying having to see the Chief’s success get posted constantly, but to now have Taylor Swift get posted constantly is the icing on the cake. It’s not Taylor Swift herself that is making the Chiefs more unlikeable; it’s the fact that out of every NFL team she could have brought more attention to, she chose the Chiefs, the most unlikeable team in football. Now we have to hear about the chiefs even more than we already did before, which is why most people are mad about having to see Taylor Swift.

Having to watch the Chiefs in another Super Bowl is not fun for any sports fan outside the Kansas City fanbase, but for just one week we can all unite under the 49ers and Brock Purdy. No one really wants to see the 49ers win either, but it’s definitely better than the absolute nightmare and disease that is the Kansas City Chiefs. Maybe we can get a scenario where no one wins and the Lombardi trophy has to be given to someone else, perhaps a team like the Michigan Tech Huskies.