The Super Bowl LV, in Roman numerals, is therefore the 55th of the name.
A real institution.
Unmissable event on the American calendar, you just have to go to this event one day to understand what it means there.
This year, the NFL championship final will however have a special flavor, beyond the game itself which will pit Tom Brady against Patrick Mahomes in a duel of titans.
Under the sign of the pandemic
The NFL was first hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.
Most of the games were played behind closed doors throughout the season, which was already cut off from a preseason for health reasons.
A total of 262 players have tested positive in a chaotic year that has seen several teams heavily impacted by the disease.
League super star Lamar Jackson has been hit.
Two Chiefs players, who are playing the Super Bowl, are still sidelined this week because of contact with a barber who tested positive last Sunday.
Patrick Mahomes having also almost been declared "contact case".
In this particular context, the NFL has chosen to open to the public anyway this game which is being played in Tampa Bay.
22,500 people will have the privilege of witnessing the shock, including 7,500 nursing staff who will be honored during the meeting.
Black Lives Matter
This season, the Black Lives Matter movement has taken a huge place in NFL stadiums.
Protests from players, from Patrick Mahomes to Richard Sherman, have forced the NFL to change its mind after the George Floyd affair.
Roger Goodell, the omnipotent boss of the League, even publicly admitted that the NFL had handled the case against Colin Kaepernick, the man hated by Trump for bending his knee during the national anthem, despite common sense.
Throughout the season, the words “End Racism” and “It Takes All of Us” have been plastered in the end zones. goal, and players were allowed to display the names of victims of racism on their helmets.
This Super Bowl will not escape the rule.
"I think that the mobilization of the players is sincere, and that this year really marks the beginning of a fight that the athletes will continue to lead," says Anthony Mahoungou, who will comment on the Super Bowl on the Équipe channel, this Sunday*.
“Everybody in the world should see that this is not right.
This is not what it's supposed to be like. ”@ Chiefs WR @ MecoleHardman4 honors the life and impact of George Floyd.
#SayTheirStories #InspireChange pic.twitter.com/wTbjbFk6QS
- NFL (@NFL) February 4, 2021
Strong symbol, the African-American poet Amanda Gorman, who caused a sensation during the inauguration of Joe Biden, will be present.
So, are we witnessing a sincere effort or a game of dupes on the part of a league that has never shone by its progressivism?
“I hope it won't be a unique Super Bowl in this context.
On the contrary, I hope it will be a trigger ", wishes Mahoungou, who was part of the staff of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018, and who even hopes that the movement flows in France:" Being from La Courneuve in the 93 is a subject that is particularly dear to me.
"
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"The NFL remains a league led by its rich owners who do not necessarily like changes, it is evolving on societal issues but it remains an old school league", worries in revenge his friend Peter Anderson, specialized journalist Foot US of the channel the Team.
“But there is something new.
We are talking about it, which was not the case before, ”adds the specialist.
As such, the presence for the first time of a woman referee on the field is also a revolution.
United America Day
In an America fractured, especially by the recent presidential election, the league has chosen to entrust the interpretation of the 2021 national anthem to a duo of artists nominated for the Grammy Awards: the singer of R'n'B Jazmine Sullivan and the Country singer Eric Church.
One Black and one White.
“There is a desire to unite America around its symbols.
The anthem will be a big moment.
It will be a mass ”, enthuses Peter Anderson, Franco-American.
In addition, the half-time show was entrusted to The Weeknd, also a committed African-American artist.
Sunday pic.twitter.com/U4TCfPmnJy
- The Weeknd (@theweeknd) February 5, 2021
“That's the message: it's the Super Bowl that wants to unite America, the time of an exceptional show.
People need that, ”notes the commentator before concluding.
“It will be a real breath for everyone”.
A Super Bowl of air, we dare say.
*
The Super Bowl will be broadcast on L'Équipe this Sunday from 11:55 pm.
BeIN Sports will also broadcast the match at the same time.