It’s no surprise that Super Bowl LI was one for the ages.
Regardless of whether you believe that the win spawned from the Patriots’ greatness or Atlanta’s incompetence, after Lady Gaga’s performance, the electricity in that stadium from New England was unbelievable. No other team in Super Bowl history has come back from a 25-point deficit, made nine Super Bowl appearances or hosted the most decorated coach and quarterback duo in the league.
Although the Pats took the W, Matt Ryan can still walk away from the season with an MVP award and an amazing first half. Atlanta worked hard, and the entirety of the country (sans New England) was on its side. It was the comeback of a century and a final middle finger from New England to the rest of the world.
But was it enough?
It’s hard to ignore the politics involved in the NFL. Patriots fans will have a thing or two to say about Roger Goodell, but every NFL coach, athlete and viewer will have multiple things to say about the officials. Whether it’s flags for interference, overt celebration or an argument over what constitutes a catch, viewers have a problem with the constant stop-and-go pace of some games with heavy official participation.
But then, there’s all the controversies. Lawsuits, cheating allegations, Colin Kaepernick protesting the national anthem, Tim Tebow on his knees, Brady supporting Trump and the list of non-football-related focus points goes on. Many of these NFL players get caught doing morally unsound things that range from domestic violence cases to steroid use to murder allegations (I’m looking at you, Aaron Hernandez). Viewers wonder whether watching and supporting these athletes on the field constitutes their support off the field, even when they disagree with how these players conduct their outside lives. Politics is politics, and sports watchers hate to hear about them during their game.
The NFL is also currently in its rebuilding stage. With the absence of All-Star quarterbacks like “Big Ben” Roethlisberger, Tony Romo, Peyton Manning and even Cam Newton this past season, fans are getting bored with no-name matchups. While there are some up-and-coming new greats out there, like Dak Prescott, Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston, they aren’t known yet. They haven’t gotten to the level of household awareness like the Manning brothers or Brady or Aaron Rodgers. So, we have to wait before we start getting excited for those non-home team matchups with two teams that fans have no favoritism for.
So, here comes the real question: did Super Bowl LI save the NFL? The verdict: kind of.
It’s hard to say that one game can completely bring back an entire professional sport … but I think the NFL is on the right track.
There was minimal penalties in the game, which is a good place to start. The officials played almost no role in any of the game’s major plays, so neither side could really blame their win or loss on poor officiating.
The NFL also utilized two great narratives in a uncontroversial way. On one hand, people cheered for the young, up-and-coming MVP Matt Ryan to beat out the arrogant duo of Belichick and Brady. But on the other hand, many wanted to see Brady and Belichick make history by breaking records and sticking it to unpopular NFL commissioner Goodell. They successfully played up both team’s narratives, so when the amazing comeback in the last quarter of the game occurred, non-football followers actually understood the significance behind it.
Lady Gaga was phenomenal, too, and drew in the audience of misfits and passive millennials that the NFL audience is missing. Many tune in to watch the Super Bowl halftime performance and then tune back out once the game starts again — but this time, Gaga captivated an unconventional audience that ended up staying because of the insane second half. The NFL did a good job picking her, and they did a good job of making sure she kept politics out of her performance, too (although her rendition of “This Land is your Land” certainly made a political statement, but was surprisingly subtle for the usually outspoken and liberal Gaga).
Super Bowl LI was the fourth-most viewed broadcast of all time in the United States, and that’s pretty good considering that the broadcasts above it are Super Bowl performances of the pre-NFL slump era. If the NFL continues to keep the officials out of the game, focus on non-political narratives and attempt to include unconventional audiences, they may be able to retain their spot as America’s most watched and loved pastime for a long, long time.
