Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (8) is unable to make a catch against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first half of Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
With all the prop betting that goes on in a Super Bowl, it's a shame none of the sports books were taking odds on if the Chiefs would lowkey whine about officiating and blowing up the narrative that the refs favor Patrick Mahomes and his team, assuming they lost - which they did - both whine and lose.
The referees were a non-factor. There were a couple ticky-tack calls - both ways - early, and there were a couple missed holds - again both ways -and a blow to the face of Mahomes by Jalen Carter that went uncalled, but the reality is, the refs were a complete non-factor because the Eagles boat-raced the Chiefs, 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX, and it wasn't even that close.
It was only a question of who would be the guy that first brought up[ the officiating and stood behind the "see, they don't favor us," trope that was bound to present itself after a blowout loss.
And that guy was 12-year veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who was playing in his first Super Bowl.
Hopkins had a relatively forgetful night. He did score a touchdown and caught a pass on a two-point conversion in garbage time, but he only had two catches for 18 yards in the game, dropped an easy pass in the first half when he was wide open and his team needed to get points to get back into the contest, and was the target on a fourth down play on a third quarter drive that got swatted away by Avante Maddox that all but sealed the Eagles victory.
But that didn't stoop Hopkins from pulling the tried and true card that reads, "you guys wrote all about the refs favoring us for weeks, but now you aren't going to say anything, right?"
Here you go:
DeAndre Hopkins talks about some of the calls in Super Bowl LIX pic.twitter.com/LlyYp2rHBt
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) February 10, 2025
"You know, I saw a lot of things in the media about the refs, but obviously... what are you all going to say now about the refs and us when there were a lot of touchy calls," Hopkins said. "Are you all going to report that? You all going to talk about the refs now?"
Sour grapes, D-Hop. Sour grapes.
Those "touchy calls," as he put it, had little to no impact on the beatdown the Chiefs got from the Eagles. It probably was one of those topics where he should have left well enough alone. And it's surprising from a guy who is close to being on a Hall of Fame track to be the one who went down that path.
Alas, he was.
Alas, Eagles fans, don't freaking care. They're just going to revel in his tears for the next year-plus.
