SUPER BOWL LIII

The New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams with a score of 13-3 in the lowest scoring Super Bowl in history at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman won the most valuable player (MVP) award; and Maroon 5, joined by Travis Scott and Georgia native Big Boi, performed during the Pepsi Halftime Show.

This is the Patriots sixth Super Bowl win, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl wins in history. This is also Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s sixth championship win.

While the Los Angeles Rams did not win, they did make history. The Rams made history for having the first male cheerleaders at a Super Bowl: Quinton Peron and Napoleon Jinnies. Peron and Jinnies previously made history in 2018 for being the first male cheerleaders in the National Football League (NFL).

As a part of the Chargerette team, senior Tyler Stubbs expressed his love for the Rams having male cheerleaders. This is significant “because it gives the gentlemen the chance to do something that they may [have been] stopped from doing anywhere else.” He further explained how many male dancers are limited by stereotypes that “exist because of [previous] dancers that may have brung negative attention.” The Rams are surely heading in a step in the right direction in the world of dance.

With a game heavily focused on defense, many viewers considered this year’s Super Bowl to be “boring,” even going as far to call it a “snoozefest.”

Junior Aaron Adams, who also is a part of the Charger football team, explained, “Super Bowl LIII was a very low scoring game, which shocked a lot of football fans [that were] watching. The game was great defensively for both teams as they were able to hold their opponents to under 20 points […] but there were still some exciting moments to be seen.”

Besides the actual game, the Pepsi Halftime Show was another key highlight of Super Bowl LIII. Several artists including Robyn Rihanna Fenty, or more famously known as Rihanna, turned down the offer to perform during the halftime show in support of Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick, former NFL quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, started kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality and racial inequality.
Eventually, the show ended up in the hands of American pop rock band Maroon 5, who performed a medley of their hit songs with rappers Travis Scott and Big Boi.

Sophomore Mahia Ahmed felt that “the overall performance was good, but it didn’t quite match up with the caliber of previous Super Bowl halftime performances. However, I did like the little clip of SpongeBob that was included to serve as an intro for Travis Scott. It was a great addition.”

Along with the game and the halftime show, Super Bowl LIII showcased a wide variety of commercials for various companies and shows including Doritos, HBO and Pepsi.

Despite what viewers may have thought of Super Bowl LIII, it was a great opportunity for families to gather around their televisions and enjoy watching one of the biggest game in sports of the most popular sport in the country.