Conspiracy theory, and Roger Goodell is in on it

On the Kirk & Callahan show on WEEI Radio this morning, guest host Trenni Kusnierek told the listeners that Super Bowl LI was already fixed. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would tell head referee Chad Cheffers and his crew that the New England Patriots like to hold their opponents, and commit offensive interference all the time. Their job was to call penalties on the Patriots' at appropriate junctures during the contest allowing the Atlanta Falcons a pre planned victory.

Super Bowl LI head referee, Chad Cheffers - As a college student, Cheffers became interested in officiating through his father, and decided to work intramural sports to make additional income. Enjoying the experience of student sports, he sought assistance from his father to officiate high school football games to begin a career. Starting in 1980, he worked several high school playoff games, and two high school championship games. By 1995, Cheffers began officiating in the Pac-10 where he worked for five seasons before being hired by the NFL.

Cheffers worked as a side judge before being promoted to referee (crew chief) beginning with the 2008 NFL season. In his promotion to referee, NFL officiating director Mike Pereira said of Cheffers, "Carl has been extremely successful on the field. He is very knowledgeable of the rules, a good rules guy. Strong presence.

His lone occupation is: NFL referee.

111.9 million viewers watched Super Bowl L. $132 million was waged through 50 sports books legally in Las Vegas. Using the gaming association's estimate, the Super Bowl bets legally placed at Nevada's casinos amount to a mere 2.8% of the total wagered nationwide. Americans spent at least $4.2 billion betting on Super Bowl L, the American Gaming Assn., a casino trade group, estimated. CBS-TV set the base rate for a 30-second advertisement at $5,000,000, a record high price for a Super Bowl ad.

Yesterday on ”MAD DOG Unleashed” show on Sirius Radio with Chris Russo, the annual Super Bowl contest was in play. A contestant needs to answer four NFL questions correctly, and they will win two tickets to Super Bowl L1, including hotel and airfare. Chris will ask the contestant what his favorite team is, and start off with a relatively easy question. The fan said his team was the Baltimore Ravens. " Who played in Super Bowl XLVII?"

After two minutes of dead air, the caller stated that he did not know the answer and he was eliminated from competition. His Baltimore Ravens had defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31 just four years ago.

From Trenni Kusnierek, imagine how uncomfortable Roger Goodell is going to feel handing the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots after they win? It will be unbearable when Tom Brady turns his back on the commissioner. That will be payback for the four game Deflategate suspension that Tom had to serve. This act of defiance will preserve Tom's legacy.

Roger can be just like that contestant who couldn't remember the Super Bowl winner from four years ago. He only has to please the 32 billionaire owners. At $35 million a year, who the hell cares about legacies?


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy