NFL Internet conspiracy theories: What is the ‘leaked Super Bowl script’? Football fans go wild
What started as a cheeky joke quickly became a major conspiracy theory, with many convinced that NFL winners are pre-determined.
Who doesn’t love a good conspiracy theory, with clandestine groups and overarching plot lines? Yet, with the speed at which information moves in the digital age today, one has got to be very careful just how much credence is given to what we read, see and hear. Ironic though it is, we did just say that.
Creating a Monster: Arian Foster’s ‘NFL scripted’ joke causes chaos
It all started during an episode of The Pat McAfee Show, when via his podcast, Arian Foster, began to ridicule NFL fans who continue to rage about refereeing decisions following the AFC Championship Game, in which the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Cincinnati Bengals.
To be clear, one doesn’t have to believe in conspiracies, to admit that there definitely some eyebrow raising calls in the fourth quarter. Indeed, it wasn’t just fans who complained either. From analysts, to players, to coaches and even the legendary Tom Brady himself, it seemed like everybody had an opinion on what many were calling a ‘rigged’ game. The general consensus, was that Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs would be a more lucrative prospect from a Super Bowl sales point of view and with that, a helping hand was given to ensure that they would be playing in the big game come February 12th. It’s worth mentioning, that the idea was given further weight by the fact that the Chiefs’ three-point win covered most point spreads, with the line consistently holding at -2.
So, what exactly did Arian Foster say?
Like we said before, we live in a strange time. With cell phones and social media offering up multiple angles on the same thing, distrust is quite common today. With that in mind, Foster, the former Texans running back decided to profit off of the paranoia. Speaking with an absolutely straight face on his podcast, Foster began to spin a yarn about receiving scripts prior to each season. Said documents would instruct everybody as to how the season would play out, as well as what their specific roles were.
As one can imagine, some laughed at Foster’s perfect satirical delivery, but unfortunately the large majority didn’t seem to pick up his obvious sarcasm. That of course, led to frenetic posting from countless NFL fans, on varying social media platforms. So convinced were the masses, that it didn’t even matter when Foster himself responded via social media, to the initial reports that he was painting the NFL in a similar light to professional wrestling. From the laughing emojis with which he responded to Raphousetv, to the answer he gave to Sports Illustrated in meme form with the caption, “Things are getting out of hand,” it simply didn’t matter. Ultimately, if there’s a lesson to be learned here, it would be to watch what you say, but we all knew this already, right?
Who was Arian Foster the NFL running back?
Though he initially went undrafted, it didn’t take long for Foster to show that he truly had star potential. Out of Tennessee, the running back ran for more than 1,000 yards in four of the five seasons - 2010 to 2014 - that he spent with the Houston Texans. His career high of 1616 yards in 2010 stands as Houston’s single-season record to this day. Foster also holds the Texans’ team mark for career yards with 6,472 and touchdowns with 54. Following 2014, he would begin to dip in form until he finally left the Texans for one last season in Miami, before retiring in 2016. Today, Foster performs under the alter ego Bobby Feeno and actually released his debut album, Flamingo & Koval, in 2018. Of course, he also continues to host the Macrodosing podcast for Barstool Sports, the very forum where he originally made the ‘scripted’ joke. Lesson learned Aaron?