*Super Bowl LVII has come and gone, and with a 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, the Kansas City Chiefs have earned the respect nobody wanted to give them.
Most people were betting against MVP Patrick Mahomes and company and were going with Jalen Hurts and the rest of the Eagles. Since each team was the top in their conference, the top two teams in the league overall, and had the top two MVP vote-getters, it could have been a coin toss and a 50/50 chance of either team winning.
We had two black quarterbacks starting in the Super Bowl for the first time in history. We can add the Kelce brothers, two brothers being on opposing teams, as a first as well. Although I saw them as evenly matched, people were counting the Chiefs out.
So how did all unfold? It was a showstopping production from start to finish.
Before everything kicked off, there were performances by Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Lift Every Voice,”) Babyface (“God Bless America,”) and Chris Stapleton (the national anthem). Chris’ song was accompanied by a Super Bowl flyover of an All-Women team of aviators, Navy Strike, and Electronic Attack Aircraft.
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Doug Williams, the first black quarterback to start in and win a Super Bowl, Super Bowl XXII in 1988, was on hand to represent the Super Bowl, as were Chiefs Hall of Fame offensive lineman Will Shields, and Eagles Hall of Fame wide receiver Harold Carmichael.
Kevin Costner narrated a brief piece on the four honorary Super Bowl captains and the common thread between them. What the honorary captains have in common is being service driven, which led them to receive scholarships from the Pat Tillman Foundation and become known as Tillman’s Scholars, along with nearly 1000 others.
Tillman was an Arizona Cardinals football player who was so driven to serve his country after 9/11, that he gave up his football career to join the Army Rangers and died in the line of duty.
All the recipients had a tie of some sort to service. One of the scholarship recipients was a doctor, who put his career on hold after 9/11 to join the Air Force, and now develops artificial intelligence-based technology to serve patients; another started a scholarship in honor of her late husband who was in the service; one was a reservist who earned her citizenship through the army and now helps other underserved people, and the last one is a combat cameraman whose aim is to share authentic stories of service.
The Chiefs won the coin toss and deferred to receive the ball in the second half, even though the Eagles are known to look to score first and like to play from ahead. True to form, the Eagles scored on their first drive, which included three first downs in a row and ended with Jalen Hurts scoring on a quarterback sneak.
The Chiefs matched the Eagles’ score, with a Travis Kelce touchdown catch, and the score was tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The Eagles hogged the ball in the second quarter, including Hurts getting another rushing touchdown, and by halftime led 24-14, with Patrick Mahomes hobbling to the locker room hurt from a tackle.
A pregnant Rihanna performed a Super Bowl halftime show that didn’t include anyone but her dancers, and still lit up the place like diamonds. She performed snippets of most of her songs and although she didn’t dance like she normally does, she put a few moves together and gave a very nice accounting. She earned her performance money…if there is such a thing.
The Chiefs started the third quarter with a drive that finally saw them converting a third down, and things were off and running, including Mahomes, gimpy ankle all. Their first drive ended in a touchdown.
The Eagles’ first drive ended in a field goal, after having lasted more than seven minutes, a new Super Bowl record. The Eagles led 27-21 at the end of three quarters.
The fourth quarter saw the Chiefs continue their second-half explosion and get their first lead, 28-27, and then a 35-27 lead before the Eagles tied the game at 35.
Harrison Butner ended the game with a field goal, a 38-35 final score, and a Super Bowl LVII win for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 24-point second half made Patrick Mahomes the Super Bowl MVP.
Of course, we saw the one million new commercials which included celebrities galore, like Serena Williams, Nick Jonas, Diddy, Will Farrell and a gang of others.
I particularly liked the Google Pixel commercial with Giannis Antetokounmpo erasing his embarrassing dunk posterization, and the Draft Kings commercial with Kevin Hart, the Undertaker, Ludacris, and Tony Hawke.
The T-Mobile commercial with Bradley Cooper and his mother was kinda cute, and funny when he told her, “I’ve done this nine times,” and she said, “yeah, but you’ve never won.”
This Super Bowl had a tug at-your heartstrings-moment when Buffalo Bills Safety Damar Hamlin was seen before the game, smiling, happy, healthy, and receiving hugs from everyone in sight. We also saw him during the game, sitting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the Kelce brothers‘ mother, Donna, who wore a half Eagles half Chiefs jacket. Well, at least each of her sons already has a ring, so it’s not like someone will be shut out.
If there was anything that put a damper on Super Bowl LVII, it was the game ending on a questionable holding call against the Eagles.
And that’s what happened.
Marilyn Smith is a Los Angeles-based writer/reviewer. Contact her via MzSportsJunkie@gmail.com
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