American football star Travis Kelce did not receive a three-game ban and a $10 million fine after the Super Bowl from the NFL’s disciplinary committee, as alleged by a circulating headline from a website that describes itself as satirical.
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The headline circulated after a sideline clash between Kelce and the team’s head coach, Andy Reid, during the Super Bowl on Feb. 11.
A photograph of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Kelce surfaced on X, opens new tab, Facebook, opens new tab and TikTok, opens new tab with text beneath that reads: “Travis Kelce Receives 3-Game Suspension for Next Season Coupled with $10 Million Fine.” One user added in the comments, opens new tab: “I am so proud of the NFL.This guy thought he was so good he could get away with it.. I’m still laughing!!”
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The headline was published, opens new tab by the website SpaceXMania on Feb. 14 in an article that said the decision came “as a result of a series of infractions deemed detrimental to the league’s integrity and sportsmanship.”
However, Tim Schlittner, director of communications for the NFL, said in an email on Feb. 19 that the assertions are “not true.”
A spokesperson for SpaceXMania said by email that the story “originated from our website” and that they “always post satire and nothing on our website is true.”
The article carries a satire label, and the website’s About Us, opens new tab section describes its mission “to bring you the freshest fake news, some sassy analysis, and a good dose of satire,” adding that “every single article on our site is about as real as a unicorn sipping on a rainbow smoothie.”
There is no such fine or ban against Kelce logged on the NFL Operations website, opens new tab or the Kansas City Chiefs’ website, opens new tab, and there are no credible reports that Kelce was handed a three-game suspension or a $10-million fine by the NFL.
The NFL fine for “unsportsmanlike conduct”, opens new tab is $13,659 for those on their first offence and $19,123 for a second offense, not $10 million.
The Kansas City Chiefs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kelce and his partner, pop star Taylor Swift, found themselves at the centre of a conspiracy theory before the Super Bowl, with allegations the NFL “scripted” their romance so that Swift could use the Super Bowl to drum up support for Joe Biden before November’s presidential election, in which he is seeking a new term. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodwell dismissed that allegation before the event.
