What Conway’s Hemingway had to say about Titans-Chiefs officiating debacle

You can count Conway native Junior Hemingway among those who thought the officiating in Saturday’s Titans-Chiefs game was flawed.

Many questioned several of the calls, and it was reported that head official Jeff Triplette decided to retire after the poor performance.

Hemingway, who played for the Chiefs from 2012-14, was one of the many who were left with questions.

“1. Unless the rules have changed, Marcus Mariota fumbled that ball on [Derrick Johnson’s] blitz sack! 2. When [Travis] Kelce got knocked out of the game the refs most definitely missed the helmet to helmet call! 3. Mariota was definitely [past] the line of scrimmage when he threw that pass that got batted back to him that needed to be challenged! Unless [the] ruling on the field prevented it from being challenged.... I don’t see why it shouldn’t have been challenged!” Hemingway posted to Facebook on Saturday night.

Most of the focus nationally was on the non-fumble play, which appeared to be a blown call.

When someone brought to Hemingway’s attention the fact that Triplette reportedly retired, Hemingway replied: “Damn he did?”

Nonetheless, Kansas City led 21-3 at halftime and wound up losing 22-21.

Hemingway recorded 25 catches for 233 yards and two touchdowns in the NFL after a productive collegiate career at Michigan.

This story was originally published January 7, 2018 at 9:24 PM with the headline "What Conway’s Hemingway had to say about Titans-Chiefs officiating debacle."