The NFL being rigged and scripted

Question

I have seen multiple videos online of a lot of people believing that the NFL is rigged and they have a script for each of their seasons. Ex-NFL player Adrian Foster came out and said on a podcast for Barstool blatantly said that there was a script and they would practice the script at practice rather than working on plays and becoming better. Obviously, not every aspect of the NFL is scripted, but I think it is true that who wins each game and ends up in the playoff and Superbowl is scripted.

Answer 1

On January 30th, Former NFL running back and current host, Arian Foster from the "Macrodosing: Arian Foster and PFT Commentator", underpinned the claim that the NFL is scripted. Instead of refuting the claim, he very clearly elaborated truth from the claim. When listening to the podcast in context, it is easy to detect the satire of the conversation, however, social media platforms were able to continue to reinforce the claims.

I have found multiple sources which refute the possibility of this claim being true, however I will list one.

“Tearing my ACL in 2012 was probably the worst thing that Roger ever scripted,” he said with a straight face, referring to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. ", the precesce of these claims make satire more clear to the audience.

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/is-the-super-bowl-scripted-lets-debunk-this-fake-box-score/ 

Comments

Nice job finding the Poynter fact-check. The final line of the piece concludes that the Super Bowl's outcome has not been scripted by the league (they rated it Pants on Fire). Therefore, the claim should be rated as "false" rather than "opinion." The full excerpt is below:

There’s no evidence the outcome of the Super Bowl has been scripted by the league. We rate the claim Pants on Fire!

Answer 2

I read about this theory as well. So, I decided to do some digging on Arian Foster and the conspiracy itself and found some information about the podcastt.

I found multiple articles (like the one I provided below) that states that NFL players, including Arian Foster, have been joking about this theory on Twitter as a sort of trend. An article by Bridget Reilly on the New York Post started, “ Following the release of the clip on Twitter, many users, including professional players, ran with it, using GIFs, videos and more to poke fun at receiving their ‘scripts’ for certain happenings in their careers.” So, as far as this information goes, I believe that Arain Foster was not being serious with his answer.

Now as far as the theory itself, yahoo news covers an interview with Patrick Mahomes about the theory and he stated that it was not rigged because the NFL does not care about a team winning or losing. 

https://nypost.com/2023/02/02/arian-foster-causes-stir-after-joking-the-nfl-is-rigged/amp/

https://news.yahoo.com/no-nfl-isn-t-rigged-153637677.html

Answer 3

Is the Super Bowl scripted? Let's debunk this fake box score. - Poynter

This theory is completely a myth, a joke that is carried out by both fans and players alike. Many people just continue to share misinformation because it is funny. Last week, fake score leaks were posted on twitter. They were shown to be fakes replicated online. Its all a joke and there is no truth to any of the claims being made about NFL scripts.

"We were able to take code from that page and swap in details to create a fake box score using the online tool WebMaker."

Comments

The final line of the Poynter fact-check concludes that the Super Bowl's outcome has not been scripted by the league (they rated it Pants on Fire). Therefore, the claim should be rated as "false" rather than "opinion." The excerpt is below:

There’s no evidence the outcome of the Super Bowl has been scripted by the league. We rate the claim Pants on Fire!

Answer 4

The NFL is not rigged. As I did more research on this topic I came across multiple sources and reliable ones, that say Tom Brady, one of the greatest players of all time saying that the NFL is not scripted, rigged. Yahoo Sports actually has a video of Tom Brady himself saying that it is not rigged. "You think Brady would have signed off on losing a perfect season to Eli Manning and the New York Giants, complete with a late comeback that included a helmet catch and a missed interception? And then lose another Lombardi Trophy to Manning a few years later?" Tom Brady is too passionate of what he does that he would never be apart of a scripted or of a rigged league. 

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-scripted-tom-brady-gives-181759493.html

https://berkeleybeacon.com/no-the-nfl-isnt-rigged/

Answer 5

The NFL cannot be scripted as explained by a writer for The Tartan. People sometimes struggle to accept hard truths - like if they're favorite team constantly loses. It's stated that this is a "facet of humanity in the modern age: people are driven by a desire for neat answers, even when there are none". There is absolutely zero evidence to prove that the NFL has a scripted outcome, but many people just need something else to believe just so they do not have to accept an ugly truth.

Additionally, some people blame that the referees are in on this "script", but it is shut down by Ed Collins: "Referees make mistakes. And yes, some of these mistakes are going to come late in the game, when the outcome might still be in doubt". There is no evidence or reason to suspect that these games are scripted, and all humans are surely to mess up at times, which only further refutes the claim.

Finally, according to LifeHacker, it's important to realize that "NFL teams are owned by different millionaires and billionaires, who likely wield as much power as the league. They would not accept a rigged game". It explains how it is human nature to hold such strong opinions for the teams people love, and many people want an excuse for when events do not end in their favor.

Overall, this claim is false; the NFL is definitely not scripted.

Answer 6

While researching the statement that the NFL is rigged and scripted, I have found that the claim is exaggerated and misleading. While there have been many questionable calls in the NFL, it's a stretch to say that it is scripted. According to my research, it would be more probable to claim that referees can be biased. However, to say that the whole NFL is rigged and scripted is a stretch. One example I've found of this from "The Spartan Shield" was "the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVII... where it seemed as if the game would go into overtime. Yet a Philadelphia [player] was called for defensive holding", which ended up giving the chiefs a 1st down and was inevitably a game deciding call (Spartan Shield). Throughout a lot of my research, they mainly talk about Super Bowl LVII and the Chiefs. Furthermore, it is "ridiculous to think that an entity such as the NFL would be scripted" (Yahoo Sports). Ultimately, based on the research that I've done, I would say that it's probable for the refs to say that they have a habit of favoring whichever team or player is doing the best at the time, but it's not probable to say that the whole NFL is rigged and scripted.

Sources:

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-scripted-tom-brady-gives-181759493.html

https://spartanshield.org/37608/sports/the-nfl-is-scripted/

https://nypost.com/2024/02/12/sports/nfl-rigged-conspiracy-theories-are-gaining-steam-after-wild-super-bowl-finish/