‘Chiefs Fatigue’ has set in among NFL fans, leading to anger and conspiracy theories
There’s often a sickness going around in the winter, and this year a new strain has come from people watching football.
Are you an NFL fan suffering from any of the following symptoms?
- Irritability and prone to outbursts
- A queasy stomach in the fourth quarter of a Chiefs game
- Vision problems that may include claiming to see Taylor Swift on your TV more than she actually appears
- Obsessively looking into the penalty statistics
If so, you might be suffering from what is being called “Chiefs Fatigue.” It’s been a hot topic among sports pundits.
SiriusXM’s Chris Russo is struggling with the condition, and having longtime Chiefs fan Caitlin Clark sitting with Taylor Swift at Saturday’s AFC Divisional playoff game apparently pushed him over the edge. Russo unleashed an angry diatribe.
“I’ve had enough with (Travis Kelce), I’ve had enough with the girlfriend, and now I got Caitlin Clark in the mix,” he said this week. “By the way, I saw Caitlin Clark play what, 50 games in college basketball the last two years. Parts of it. I never heard one reference, I never saw her father with a Chiefs jersey on. I never saw her with Chiefs hat on. I heard not one reference in 50 games that she was a Chiefs fan. And then all of a sudden now she’s (saying), ‘Well, I was a big Kansas City fan.’ Oh, come on, stop, please.
“I understand you want to be a fan because they win. That was tough to take. I’m so Chiefed out, it’s ridiculous. And you know, ESPN, they’re going to be as guilty as everybody else. They’re going to show you Swift and her in that freaking press box until the cows come home. When Taylor Swift is Bob Dylan, come back and talk to me. Come back and talk to me when she has that sort of impact, not for this. Not for the 18 year old girls like my daughter. ... When you change music, come back and talk to me. That’s No. 1. Boy, I’m sick of Kansas City.”
Dan Patrick talked about how fans are feeling on his show last week. That was before the outcry about the referees helping the Chiefs in their win over the Texans.
“You know what else is quiet? The Chiefs are going for a three-peat and I don’t know if there’s ‘Chiefs Fatigue,’ but it certainly feels that way,” Patrick said. “And I know every other commercial you see, it’s (Patrick) Mahomes, it’s Andy Reid, it’s Travis Kelce, Kelce’s podcast, Taylor Swift, I get it. But let’s not lose sight of what they’re doing or trying to do. It’s never been done before. It’s an, oh, by the way, they’re going for a three-peat, and it feels after a while it is fatigue. ...
“They lost to Denver at the end of the season, but even when they’re 15-1, what did we we talk about? They’re lucky. You’re not going to be able to play this way in the postseason, like we’re almost waiting, hoping, or at least you get that feeling from people that, ‘No, not the Chiefs again.’ But if you have Buffalo and you have Baltimore and they make it to the Super Bowl, I think people would be thrilled. NFL fans would be thrilled if one of those two teams was there, and maybe not because you’re rooting for them as much as you don’t want the Chiefs. Oh, gosh, here we go again.”
Yahoo Sports’ Jay Busbee wrote a story with the headline, “Playoff Asked & Answered: We’re all tired of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs by now.”
“Kansas City has now made seven straight AFC championship games, meaning that the other 15 teams in the conference have had to divide those other seven spots among themselves,” Busbee wrote. “That’s a recipe for boredom and frustration.
“You can’t blame the Chiefs for being good and winning. And you can’t blame the rest of us for being tired of it all.”
Matt Hamilton talked about it Tuesday on the “Up & Adams Show” on FanDuel TV.
“People have ‘Chiefs Fatigue,’ and I get it like, you want something different you want, obviously your team to be there,” Hamilton said. “But it is a tough thing, it shouldn’t take away from the greatness that we’re witnessing and we should be able to appreciate it.
“The Bulls in the 90s, it was the same thing growing up as a Knicks fan, you hate (Michael) Jordan, and then you grow to appreciate them over time. I hope at some point, people take a step back, non-Chiefs fans will take a step back, and appreciate it.”
Keith Murphy, a sports anchor in Des Moines, even talked about “Chiefs Fatigue.” He said it’s fueling the discussion about the NFL having referees help the Chiefs win games.
“No one hates the Jags. Many sure hate the Chiefs,” Murphy said this week. “To paraphrase Harvey Dent, the Chiefs won enough to become the villain. There are other reasons they’ve worn out their welcome. Kelce and Mahomes commercial fatigue, two of the biggest celebrities in the world are Chiefs fans. Taylor Swift through boyfriend circumstance. Caitlin Clark through lifetime devotion. And many people know someone who is a Chiefs fan because they hopped on the bandwagon. But mostly it’s the winning. Non-Chiefs fans are sick and tired of the winning. They honestly believe games are rigged. The NFL wants the Chiefs to win a third straight Super Bowl. Nothing supporting this conspiracy theory gets more attention than officiating. ...
“The NFL is a multi-billion dollar league with hundreds of players, coaches and officials. For a true fix, it would require an unfathomable level of coordination and secrecy. The suggestion that all of this could be manipulated at the risk of ending careers and killing the golden goose does not hold up to scrutiny. Besides, the NFL is designed for parity.”
This story was originally published January 22, 2025 at 9:48 AM.
