Wild About Wings! Which flavor??

Parmesan-11% Cajun ranch-2%

Honey-18%

Old Bay-10% Mild- 5% Buffalo-20%

Super Spicy-10%

BBQ-24%

Taking tackles at America’s game; History, origin of Super Bowl

KRIS GRAY

News Editor

The very first Super Bowl was actually called the “AFL-NFL World Championship Game” and took place on January 15, 1967. It wasn’t until the third game that occurred two years later that it was officially renamed by the main founder of the American Football League and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Hunt. Hunt’s son, Lamar Hunt Jr. claims that the idea sprouted from his “Super Ball” toy.

As the premiere professional football championship game, the tension arose from more than just the rivalry between the two top teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers won the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967, being the first to defeat the AFL before the leagues merged.

Fast-forward to 2023, the Super Bowl is the biggest event in American sports culture and arguably, the “biggest event in American culture, period,” according to the Bleacher Report. Stadiums are filled from the parking lot to the nosebleeds. Since there have never been enough tickets to hold all the fans, many spectators watch from the comfort of their own homes through live television and other other streaming services.

Sophomore Nathan Ogle believes that “the Halftime show is what really draws people in.” 1993 was the first time the NFL acquired a famous entertainer, Michael Jackson, to perform during the halftime show. School Safety Liaison Mrs. Renee Ford’s favorite performance was the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show. The event took place in Inglewood, California, featuring musical artists such as Mary J Blige., Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent.

Like the halftime show, there were many major improvements made over the 55-year span. When bleachers were empty in ‘67, those seats can now reach up to as high as 40,000 dollars. The first champions received a trophy called the World Professional Football Championship Trophy. But, in 1970, the trophy would be renamed in memory of Vince Lombardi, the Packers head coach, after losing his battle with cancer.

The American Interest records that “football is a small-scale, relatively (but not entirely) safe version of warfare.” They explain that the game consists of “two groups of men in uniforms, wearing protective gear” crashing into each other. The older men create plans for the younger ones to enact as if they are generals instructing troops. But, most of all, the Bleacher Report calls it “a fortnight of A-listers and Fortune-500s and everybody who is anybody and anybody who loves football.”