Former Steelers Player Says NFL Threatened Pension Over 'Rigged' Ref Claims

With the potential of at least $4 million hanging in the balance for the Big 12 via an extra spot in the College Football Playoff, the conference's officials "incorrectly cleared" a replay that showed time was remaining on the clock in the fourth quarter of BYU's contest against Notre Dame on Saturday night.

The decision for the Big 12's officiating crew to swallow their whistles on defensive pass interference and somehow miss the fact that there was time on the clock, essentially gifting the conference's program a 28-24 win that will help the Big 12 make the argument they should receive multiple bids in the CFP, isn't sitting right with many in and around college football.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Breiden Fehoko, who won the national championship with LSU in 2019, criticized how the game was called by officials in the final minute. He thinks officiating is a big problem in football, claiming that those in and around the NFL believe that the league rigged games in certain ways.

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Fehoko alleged the league threatened to pull his pension over his complaints.

"I won’t even be quiet about it no more," Fehoko posted on X. "When I played in the NFL we all knew officials were rigging games certain ways. It happens at the college ranks. Last year when I put the NFL on blast about it they threatened to pull my pension. (Expletive) em. The world deserves to know."

Fehoko wants to see change in officiating.

"Stop letting officials rigg these games. Sports are rigged and if it isn’t blatant enough it’s right in front of your face. From the NFL to college it’s all RIGGED. Get woke man."

Like we saw in the Big Ten with Michigan and Western Michigan, the incentives for conferences right now are for their officials to make mistakes in games and to apologize after the fact. With CFP money on the line, every second is costly.

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