Xavier McKinney spent about a minute unloading on the officials after the Green Bay Packers lost to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, calling the officiating “bulls–t” and saying he was not a fan of the refs. The Packers safety did not soften the criticism as he spoke in the locker room, where he also said he did not think the game was handled well.
That outburst is drawing attention because the NFL has a standing policy that bars players and club employees from publicly criticizing game officials or officiating, with fines and even suspensions on the table. McKinney knows that risk and said, “I don't know how the NFL [is] going to treat it, but I'm not a big fan of the refs right now.”
The focus of his complaint was a third-quarter sequence involving Amon-Ra St. Brown, Devonte Wyatt and umpire Terry Killens Jr. St. Brown was wrapped up, got back up and kept going because there was no audible whistle, then Wyatt tackled him and St. Brown’s leg hit Killens in the groin. Killens went down and threw a flag while on his back, a sequence McKinney said made no sense.
The penalty mattered because the Lions used it to draw closer to a touchdown that put them ahead 17-14. That is why the Green Bay Packers officiating complaints have landed harder than a routine postgame gripe: the call came in a tight game, and the margin on the scoreboard was small enough that one flag could shape how the finish looked.
McKinney did not limit himself to that one play. He said there were drives where officials made calls that “don't even make any sense,” and he repeated that the officiating was “bulls–t” and “bulls–t calls” more than once. Under NFL rules, that kind of public criticism can bring discipline, which leaves the league with a simple choice now: fine him, suspend him, or let one of its own most public rebukes of officiating stand.
The bigger issue for the league is not just whether one call was right or wrong, but how fast an officiating debate from Sunday has turned into a possible punishment case. If the NFL acts, McKinney becomes the face of that response; if it does not, the remarks will stand as a sharp public challenge to the league’s enforcement of its own rule.
