This year’s Super Bowl was between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams. In a fairly uneventful game, the Patriots won, 13 to 3.
The Patriots led the Rams 3-0 at half-time. In the second half, the Rams punted the ball; it hit the ground and rolled, becoming the longest-ever punt in Super Bowl history, at 65 yards. Later, the Rams kicked a field goal for three points, to tie up the game.
The Patriots later got a touchdown to pull into the lead, 10-3. That touchdown was set up by a long and very accurate pass thrown by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to tight end Rob Gronkowski, to put them on the one-yard line.
With less than three minutes to play, a field goal by the Patriots gave them three more points, to secure the win.
It was the ninth time Tom Brady has played in a Super Bowl game. With this win, he earns his sixth Super Bowl ring.
While the game itself may not have had many exciting highlights, there was a lot of drama off the field. Many people look forward to the half-time show which, with millions of people watching, is one of the biggest concerts of the year and always features big stars. This year, the group Maroon 5 was the headliner (main performer), with rapper Travis Scott and singer Big Boi also performing. Even cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants joined in the fun, dropping in between songs.
Before the Super Bowl, more than 110,000 people signed a petition to ask Maroon 5 not to perform at the game. They wanted to support Colin Kaepernick, a football player who kneeled during the national anthem at games to remind people that blacks in the United States often don’t get fair treatment from police. Many people, including the owners of NFL teams, didn’t agree with Kaepernick’s actions and tried to stop him–and others–from kneeling during the anthem.
It was reported that other big-name singers turned down the opportunity to perform at the Super Bowl, in support of Kaepernick.
People magazine reported that Maroon 5, the NFL and Interscope Records donated $500,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and that the other performers also donated money to charity.
Another popular feature of the Super Bowl that many people look forward to are the commercials. Advertisers spend a lot of money creating the most elaborate–and often funniest–commercials.
For instance, in an ad for the computer app Expensify, rapper 2chainz is stopped in the middle of shooting an elaborate video, by an accountant who tells him that he needs receipts for all the props in his video. But, the rapper assures the accountant, he has used the Expensify app which has tracked his receipts. (You sort of have to see the commercial to get why it’s funny–we have posted it, below.)
*Note: In an earlier version of this article we erroneously stated that the Patriots won the Super Bowl last year; they won in 2017. Last year’s winners were the Philadelphia Eagles. We regret the error.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Tom Brady has now won six championships. Almost everyone agrees, he is one of the best quarterbacks to have ever played in the National Football League. Who is the greatest athlete you have ever seen? What made them so special?
Reading Prompt: Extending Understanding
What championship game or tournament do you enjoy watching most? Why is it such a fun event to see?
Junior
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them. (OME, Reading: ).
Intermediate
Extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Language Feature: “Superbowl” vs. “Super Bowl”
Google Trends confirmed that the term, “Superbowl” has pulled ahead of “Super Bowl” for online searches. The only problem is that the correct spelling is: “Super Bowl.”
Can a spelling error that big be fixed?
What could the NFL do to teach their fans the proper spelling?
