VP Vance worries NFL will unfairly boost Chiefs.

Doesn’t he have work to do? | Opinion By Yvette Walker August 29, 2025 11:35 AM Gift Article The vice president hopes the league won’t “put a thumb on the scale” for Kansas City and Taylor Swift. Eye roll.

Jovanny Hernandez / The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel When John Adams lost the 1789 presidential election to George Washington, he automatically became vice president and later described the role as “the most insignificant office that ever the Invention of man contrived or his Imagination conceived.”

Is that why Vice President JD Vance has time to weigh in on the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs? No disrespect to Adams, the vice president does have an important role: to preside over the U.S. Senate and to step into the role of president if the commander in chief is unable to perform the duties of the office. Apparently — at least with the first job responsibility — Vance has some time on his hands.

So, while spreading the good news of President Donald Trump, he said in an interview with USA Today that he, a Cincinnati Bengals fan, was concerned over potential NFL bias toward the Chiefs after the announcement of Travis Kelce proposing marriage to Taylor Swift. “I will say as a football fan — as a Cincinnati Bengals fan — I hope that the NFL does not put a thumb on the scale for the Kansas City Chiefs just because Travis Kelce is now getting married to maybe the most famous woman in the world,” Vance said in the interview.

“You guys can’t sort of have this, I’m worried they’re going to have a Super Bowl wedding thing this season,” he said. “Can’t do it. The Kansas City Chiefs have to follow the same rules as everybody else.”

He continued, according to the interview: “So if we see the refs being particularly friendly to Kansas City Chiefs players, then I think all football fans should be willing to push back on the NFL and say, look, you guys got to be fair.

Just because Travis is getting married to Taylor, you still can’t put your thumb on the scale for the Kansas City Chiefs.” Of course, Vance addressed other national concerns during his interview with the news organization, including Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops to combat crime, as well as the president’s attempts to remove a Federal Reserve governor.

But over everything else going on in the world, this is what you’re worried about? You think it’s worth getting hot over something that conspiracy theorists already are hot over? We’ve seen this before.

In February, the labor union representing NFL referees criticized “conspiracy theories” alleging that officials have been biased toward the Kansas City Chiefs.

In a statement, Scott Green, executive director of the NFL Referees Association said: “Commissioner (Roger) Goodell’s comments that it is ‘ridiculous’ to presume that NFL Officials are not doing everything possible to make the right call on every play is spot on. “Officiating crews do not work the same team more than twice each regular season. It is insulting and preposterous to hear conspiracy theories that somehow 17 officiating crews consisting of 138 officials are colluding to assist one team.”

The refs are insulted, sure, but what about the Chiefs? What about Kansas City?

Should we be offended that our vice president believes we would be involved in cheating, even on the part of the refs?

How rude! Or, maybe this is the right time to spin attention away from issues like, say, authoritarianism, to referee conspiracies. Hey, maybe that’s the conspiracy we should be talking about.