Fans were saying the same thing after official Bill Vinovich apologized to Josh Allen on Sunday.
CBS showed a video clip of Vinovich talking to Allen on the sideline during the Wild Card round playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. Vinovich pointed to his chest during the exchange. The two then traded pats of each other, as if an apology had been offered and accepted.
It was believed that Vinovich was apologizing for missing a defensive holding call in the end zone.
Bill Vinovich and Josh Allen having a chat pic.twitter.com/2LFbSXo6ua
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 12, 2025
Vinovich making nice with Allen was unusual to see, as it seemed to indicate possible favoritism to the biggest star who was playing in that game. It also led fans to comment on how crazy people would have gone had that been Patrick Mahomes instead.
Can't even imagine what would happen #OnHere if a ref went up to Mahomes on the bench and had that same interaction. People would lose their freaking minds.
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) January 12, 2025
If this was Mahomes we might have had to shut down this website https://t.co/rNArZqfapO
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) January 12, 2025
If a ref came up to Patrick Mahomes like this, twitter would burn to the ground. pic.twitter.com/vyo5ECP5nw
— The Kingdom (@MahomeSZN) January 12, 2025
I can only imagine how the internet would react if they saw a referee come over and APOLOGIZE to Mahomes for missing a call
— Daniel Harms🏈 (@InHarmsWay19) January 12, 2025
The head umpire literally went to Josh Allen on the sideline and apologized for not throwing the flag. And yall make memes of Mahomes and refs lol k
— 🗣🎙‼️ (@LanceTHESPOKEN) January 12, 2025
The perception is that Mahomes and the Chiefs already receive favoritism from the officials.
People couldn’t believe that Vinovich had offered that apology and showed contrition towards Allen. The internet would have been unbearable had that been Mahomes.
Allen played like an MVP candidate in Buffalo’s 31-7 win over Denver. He went 20/26 for 272 yards with 2 touchdown passes. He also rushed 8 times for 46 yards.
