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I go back and forth on this, but I definitely think it's absurd to compare it to WWE. There is no script and players are not in on some league-wide conspiracy.
What I've believed for awhile is that there's an effort to keep certain games close to maintain a TV audience (see: Texans regular season game this year, Pitt last year), and that superstars/big markets are more likely to get crucial calls (which is generally the case in any pro sport).
There's also the possibility that certain players are on the take in certain games, although I think that's pretty rare now that they're paid millions. It appears to have been pretty common in the 60s/70s (when players like Lenny Dawson had to have side jobs to make ends meet).
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