By John Pullano
Opinion Editor
For the Pullano family, the Super Bowl is more than a game; it’s a holiday. Despite being away from my family at my first year away at college, I knew I still had to go home for the game. So, I drove to Rochester to witness the spectacle alongside all the fried food and chocolate-covered desserts my family could fit in the house.
As 6:30 p.m. rolled around, folks began to settle into their preferred spots on the couches. People prepared to bend over laughing at the hilarious commercials, stand up and cheer at every riveting play and, most of all, poke fun at every little thing that came across the screen.
For fans at parties, bars and tailgates, seriousness is kept to a minimum, my family included. The Super Bowl is a chance for fans to let loose and enjoy quality time off work. However, the need to keep everything fun and games often allows for us to miss the more serious-minded point of the commercials and extracurricular events during the game.
Before the teams took to the field, Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long received the 2018 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. A casual watcher may not have noticed the significance of the award being presented because they either were munching away, locked on the goofy antics of Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, crouching in the background or were simply choosing to ignore it.
Long was presented this award because of his hard work for the Chris Long Foundation. Long’s foundation had a main initiative called Waterboys. Long said, “it is a program that has united professional athletes and sports fans to raise funds and awareness to provide clean drinking water to East African communities in need.”
Long had a goal of building 32 clean water wells, one for every NFL team, and he achieved that goal in February 2018. Long now has now set a goal of providing clean water to one million people.
Long deserved to be recognized on a stage as colossal as the Super Bowl; the National Football League just is not sure whether anyone was watching.
Among the commercials of Harrison Ford and the Bud Knight were the empowering and inspirational commercials featuring the likes of Antoinette “Toni” Harris.
Harris wants to be the first woman to play in the NFL, and she made that known during Toyota’s Super Bowl commercial. Harris received a scholarship offer to play college football for Bethany College next fall. The scholarship offer was highlighted in the Toyota commercial, all while showing the inspiring and empowering story Harris is writing. This commercial didn’t have goofy slow-motion dog runs or hilarious talking babies, but instead inspired girls watching across the country to go after their dreams, just as Harris is.
I will admit I got lost in the spectacle that is Super Bowl Sunday. I couldn’t help but laugh at the memes comparing Adam Levine’s tattoos to a chipotle bag and poke fun at the post-game antics of Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski challenging Patriots coach Bill Belichick to a game of who could party harder. But in the end, there were many emotional and empowering commercials and events that occurred during the game.
So, next time a big game rolls around, set down the chips and guac, turn the sound up for something besides a big play or a hilarious commercial and take a moment to watch and embrace the empowering and inspirational side of the game.
pullanjj18@bonaventure.edu
