Super Bowl Sunday is one of the best times of the year for people to get together with friends and family and watch the most American sport, football, while participating in the most American activity, eating.
This year’s Super Bowl, Super Bowl LI (51), was what some would consider “the best Super Bowl of all time.” The favored New England Patriots took on the underdog Atlanta Falcons at NRG Stadium in Houston on Feb. 5.
What made the game so incredible was that the Patriots erased a 25-point Falcon’s lead to win the Super Bowl 34-28 in overtime, the only Super Bowl to ever go into overtime. The previous record for the largest comeback was only a mere 10 points.
The victory added a fifth Super Bowl title to add to quarterback Tom Brady’s resume, the most of any quarterback in NFL history. “Tom Brady is the greatest NFL player ever. The confidence and poise at which he plays shows why you can never count him out. His success and consistency every year makes fans of teams such as the Chicago Bears hate him and diminish his achievements. He will forever be the GOAT,” diehard Patriots fan junior Jonathan Rosenstein said.
The loss from the Atlanta Falcons keeps the franchise without a Super Bowl title, only one of 13 to not have a ring. With Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Ryan and stand out wide receiver Julio Jones on the roster, fans can be sure that the Falcons will be back at it again next year.
Aside from the actual game itself, a big part of the Super Bowl is the commercials. There are so many people out there who watch the Super Bowl strictly for the commercials, but this year, it seemed as though the commercials were lackluster. “There weren’t really any funny commercials this year, which was pretty disappointing because I don’t really care about football that much,” freshman Molly Burns said.
The other main reason people watch the Super Bowl is the football halftime show. This year’s show was headlined by Lady Gaga, who hasn’t been appearing in the mainstream media much lately. The show opened with Lady Gaga on the roof of NRG, and used drones to light up the sky in red, white and blue. She then jump off the roof and was gently let down by a rope where she landed on a stage. From then on, it was a typical Lady Gaga show with lots of backup dancers, her big hits, and of course, lots of flashy costumes. The biggest thing to take away from Gaga’s performance was her direct criticism toward President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Her song “Born This Way” had a new meaning, as it protested all the duo’s negative stance on the LGBTQ+ community.
Max Jordan
Managing Editor