A former San Francisco 49ers player is alleging a conspiracy in his team's Super Bowl 58 loss. The team fell in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs, who are in the midst of a dynasty. Donte Whitner, who played for them from 2011 to 2013, believes there's more to it than the team losing to a superior one.
Whitner said on the Up and Adams Show:
"When we think about the Super Bowl as well, I think that the 49ers played against the refs as well, guys. I think that when we look at that film and you see bear hugs on those defensive ends, right? And you really see it in blatant moments in the game. The 49ers played against Taylor Swift, the refs and the Kansas City Chiefs. All three.”
The former defensive back is alleging a bit of a conspiracy with the calling of the game. From his perspective, the 49ers had to overcome quite a lot to win the game, and they very nearly did it.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce became a superstar couple, and many believe the league wanted them to be successful and that referees helped push them towards success. Whitner believes that proved true in the big game as well.
The refereeing in any Super Bowl is under high scrutiny, and the lack of holding calls was the biggest takeaway. There have been very few holding calls flagged in the last few Super Bowls, but Whitner believes the Kansas City Chiefs got away with a lot.
Was Super Bowl 58 rigged for the Chiefs?
Despite what many conspiracy theorists might believe, there's no hard evidence that the San Francisco 49ers got the game taken out of their hands because of any NFL-planned rigging. There's no evidence that any NFL game has ever really been rigged in any manner.
The missed calls are glaring, but referees miss calls all the time. They might have also given the benefit of the doubt to the Chiefs on some plays, given that they're currently the most popular team in the sport, but that isn't provable nor is it tantamount to rigging the game.
