Brittany Mahomes trolled NFL referees after her husband, Patrick Mahomes, had a post-game meltdown following the Kansas City Chiefs’ loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Brittany, 28, shared an Instagram Story video after the Sunday, December 10, game that showed a ref on the field with the sarcastic caption, “MVP.” The upload came after the officials called a penalty that reversed a touchdown scored by Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney in the final minutes of the game. The Chiefs ultimately lost to the Bills 20-17.
After the game, Patrick, 28, was unusually heated, slamming his helmet down on the sidelines after the Chiefs’ second straight loss. At one point, it appeared that his teammates and coaches were trying to restrain him and he seemingly yelled at officials.
“It’s tough to swallow,” Patrick told reporters after the game. “Not only from me, and football in general, to take away greatness like that, for a guy like Travis [Kelce] to make a play like that, you want to see the guys on the field decide the game. They’re human. They make mistakes. … There wasn’t a warning the entire game. And then you make a call like that in the final minute? Another game, we’re talking about the refs. It’s not what we want for the NFL. It’s not what we want for football.”
The Chiefs had been trailing the Bills in the fourth quarter when Mahomes threw the ball to Kelce, who then threw it to Toney, 24. The receiver made what would have been a game-winning touchdown, but the play was reversed after officials called Toney for lining up offsides. (While offensive offsides has not been a common flag in the past, the NFL noted during Sunday’s broadcast that it has been called 11 times this season.)
Chiefs coach Andy Reid wasn’t happy with the call either, telling reporters that he should have gotten a heads-up about Toney’s position before the play started. “It was a heck of a football game down to the end,” he said. “Very disappointed that it ended the way it did. Normally, I never use any of this as an excuse, but normally I get a warning before something like that happens in a big game. A bit embarrassing in the National Football League for that to take place.”
Kelce, for his part, didn’t comment after the game, but he was spotted looking downcast as he left Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium with girlfriend Taylor Swift.
Earlier this month, Swift, 33, said she’s not sorry that her presence at Chiefs games has upset some NFL fans who think her attendance takes up too much screen time.
“I don’t know how they know what suite I’m in. There’s a camera, like, a half-mile away, and you don’t know where it is, and you have no idea when the camera is putting you in the broadcast, so I don’t know if I’m being shown 17 times or once,” she said in her TIME Person of the Year cover story published on Wednesday, December 6. “I’m just there to support Travis. I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads and Chads.”
She added that she’s enjoying her newfound interest in the NFL. “Football is awesome, it turns out,” she quipped. “I’ve been missing out my whole life.”