Superbowl 2021: COVID Edition
Justin Fichera
Trending News Staff Writer
There comes a time of year when everyone gathers to celebrate the end of something important. Of course, the conversation is about the Super Bowl. Every year, Americans gather at a house with a large TV in large numbers to divulge in food and drink and watch the two best teams duke it out in what is always poised to be the best game of the year. This year, however, something is different. Government officials have advised millions of Americans to consider not throwing a Super Bowl party this year. This comes after the number of COVID-19 infections have increased and hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from the virus. According to these government and health officials, hosting a Super Bowl party has the potential to spread the virus even further at a time we are trying to “stop the spread.”
There are a few other things that are different this year as well. First, one team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers faced the Kansas City Chiefs at their home stadium. In a historic set of sports seasons, Hockey, Baseball, and Basketball finals have all been played at neutral locations, deferring from the standard. At the same, Football, which has pre-picked locations for who hosts the super bowl, has a team in it that hosts the game. This is the first time this has happened in history. Though this may seem unfair to many that one team will have the home-field advantage on the world’s biggest stage, consider this: The capacity at the stadium was set to only host 30 percent capacity. This meant there were enough crowd members to make some noise, but not enough where it could distract one team, giving the other team the advantage.
Despite the new aspect COVID brings to both watching the game in person and watching it at home, one thing’s for certain: Two teams played on the world’s biggest stage with the intent to win and get another Lombardi Trophy. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs made some critical errors that if not committed could have swung the game in their favor. However, the poise and determination of Tom Brady prevailed, and The Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in what will surely be seen as a historic season in a historic year. Tom Brady won his seventh ring, and when asked if he will retire this season a winner, the 43-year-old NFL Veteran said he’s coming back for more.
Contact Justin at justin.fichera@student.shu.edu