These 5 Chiefs stories you saw on Facebook aren’t actually true. Here’s why
ESPN personality Pat McAfee went out of his way last month to praise Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce for purchasing a $3.3 million house for homeless youth in KC.
There was one problem: The story wasn’t true ... fabricated, perhaps, with some help from artificial intelligence (AI).
The lesson here remains: Even those at the top of the media food chain can have difficulties telling fact from fiction in today’s social media world.
My hope is that you’ll follow all our Chiefs coverage at the Kansas City Star to help educate yourself about your favorite team.
But I also get it. You probably have a Facebook account, and it’s easy to click “like” or “share” on viral Chiefs stories that appear to be true (but may not be, as well).
Let’s help sort it all out. Here are five story headlines you might’ve encountered on Facebook within the last month, each requiring additional scrutiny:
Headline: REPORT: First-Round Pick Josh Simmons, Chiefs Agree to Surprisingly Low Contract
Verdict: Misleading at best.
This piece aims to praise Chiefs first-round left tackle Josh Simmons for accepting a “surprisingly low” $14.6 million contract, while saying the amount was “notably modest compared to other first-rounders, such as No. 12 pick Tyler Booker ($22.5 million) or No. 6 pick Ashton Jeanty ($35.8 million).”
About that. The NFL has a predetermined rookie salary scale based on each player’s draft position. So Simmons getting $14.6 million as the 32nd pick is lower than those players earlier in the first round for a good reason: He was drafted later.
A link to this report on Facebook also showed a quote from Simmons: “I don’t play for money; I play to become a Super Bowl champion with the Chiefs.”
It’s a great quote ... if Simmons had actually said it. However, he hasn’t said that in the two press conferences we’ve been a part of, and I find no evidence online of Simmons uttering that either; it also, strangely, doesn’t appear in the story associated with that quote.
The suspicious utterance still seemed to draw a lot of fans. More than 1,300 people interacted with the post on Facebook, with many praising Simmons for his unselfishness.
Headline: REPORT: Jawaan Taylor Pens Heartfelt Letter to Chiefs Fans After Pay Cut to Stay
Verdict: Not even close.
This report quickly turns to Fantasyland.
Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor has undoubtedly had an up-and-down two years with the Chiefs. He’s been one of the league’s most penalized linemen and also hasn’t always been consistent with his play.
However, the linked story states that Taylor recently penned an open letter to Chiefs fans and general manager Brett Veach after he “agreed to a pay cut to remain with the team” to reduce his “$24.7 million cap hit to $18 million for 2025.”
That hasn’t happened. ESPN’s Field Yates did report last October that the Chiefs restructured Taylor’s contract after a trade for receiver DeAndre Hopkins to clear up $5.3 million in cap room.
The procedure, however, is simply a salary-cap maneuver. It’s not a pay cut for Taylor, and it certainly isn’t him taking less money as a mea culpa for poor play.
Nevertheless, the article states that Taylor wrote in his letter to the GM and fans, “Thank you, Veach, for giving me the chance to prove myself again — I won’t let you down.”
Eleven hundred people interacted with the original Facebook post, meaning it surely came across a few of your feeds. Just know that it’s not based in reality.
Headline: Joaquin Phoenix and Denzel Washington to Star in Chiefs Biopic ‘Dynasty’
Verdict: Um, no.
This is the best evidence that folks are giving these online posts a “like” without reading the article.
The story claims Amazon MGM Studios will create a Chiefs-based movie called, “Dynasty” (Spoiler alert: This is made up). It then says Joaquin Phoenix will play the role of Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt ... OK, I guess I could see it.
Here, though, is the kicker. The portrayal of Andy Reid? I’ll let the article take it from here:
“Denzel Washington will star as the iconic coach, with the film set for a 2026 release.”
OK then.
In any case, this questionable post received nearly 700 Facebook interactions and 85 shares, with one poster delivering his thoughts on what he thought was news.
“I don’t like the casting as I don’t care for the actor much,” he wrote.
This should come as a relief, then. This movie ain’t happening ... even though the Chiefs actually are getting their own six-part ESPN docuseries later this year.
Headline: SAD NEWS: Chiefs Legend Battles Cancer Recurrence, Fans Hope for Another Victory Over Disease
Verdict: No evidence.
Can we blame AI on this one? Or some super-computer that isn’t getting monitored?
I’m going to hope that no human is capable of creating a fake story on Chiefs safety Eric Berry having a resurgence of cancer just to get some cheap pageviews.
That’s what we’re potentially looking at with this one, though. The April 29 post states that Berry faces a “devastating recurrence of the disease,” according to an ESPN report, before saying Berry “announced the somber news via social media.”
All of that should be easy to find ... if it happened. I can at least say this: Neither ESPN nor Berry has publicly reported any update regarding his cancer status in the last month.
One can still understand why the post drew lots of interactions (more than 650 with 150 comments) from concerned people seemingly unaware they’d been duped.
Headline: Chiefs, TE Travis Kelce Agree to a Reworked Deal for 2025 Season
Verdict: Nope.
People really seem to be cheering for the “Millionaire gives money back to the team” posts.
Overwhelmingly, this just isn’t the reality of the NFL. Kelce has one year left on his deal for 2025, and no reported alterations have been made this offseason.
So no, we shouldn’t believe this webpage when it says that Kelce “slashed his $19.8 million salary by a third, accepting $13.2 million to stay with Kansas City.” Nor should we believe the quote in there attributed to Kelce that says, “Money’s not the goal anymore. It’s about love for the Chiefs.”
If the quote exists — or has existed — I can’t find it. And much like the Taylor quote above, there’s not much chance of Kelce saying something like that in a media setting without it being shared by multiple outlets (including here at The Star).
This Facebook post had 1,100 interactions, perhaps with fans happy that Kelce was returning? Or maybe pleased he reworked his deal?
Either way, the bots appeared to have won with their formula here, stirring up lots of attention with a fabrication.
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 10:57 AM with the headline "These 5 Chiefs stories you saw on Facebook aren’t actually true. Here’s why."
