By Lauren Lane
Staff Writer
Coming from one of the biggest sports fans and someone who looks forward to the Super Bowl all year long, Super Bowl 48 between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos was hard to watch. The most interesting moments of the event was watching all of the mistakes Peyton Manning, quarterback for the Denver Broncos, made along with the Bruno Mars halftime show, and the hilarious Tim Tebow commercials for T-Mobile.
From the first play of the Super Bowl everyone could tell that it was not going to end well for the Denver Broncos. Per usual, Peyton Manning, second-year quarterback for the Broncos, called their play then Denver’s offensive line set in, their positions. However, at the last minute Manning decided to try and change the play running towards his center, Manny Ramirez, who was not expecting this and hiked the ball like he would usually. The ball flew over Manning’s head bouncing towards the Bronco’s end zone stopping only after being tackled by Knowshon Moreno Denver running back.
This kind of play is called a safety. A safety can occur in two ways, when a ball carrier is tackled in his own end zone or when a foul is committed by the offence in their own end zone. When a safety is scored, the opposing team is rewarded two points and the ball is kicked off to the team who scored the safety from the 20-foot line.
This play put the Seattle Seahawks at a 2-0 advantage over the Denver Broncos within the first 12 seconds of the Super Bowl.
Bruno Mars, born Peter Gene Hernandez, took the stage not a moment too soon to give the Denver Broncos a much-needed relief from the pain of their Seahawk brand destruction.
The 28 year old started off the 12 minute half time show with “Locked Out of Heaven” leading into other well-known hit songs such as “Treasure,” “Runaway Baby,” and “Just the Way You Are” along with a brief Red Hot Chili Peppers interlude. The massive pop star, who ironically stands at only 5’5”, was an unexpected choice because he would be joining the ranks of industry super stars such as Paul McCartney, Prince, U2, Justin Timberlake, and Beyonce; however, he delivered a mixture of entertainment assault and James Brown meets Michael Jackson type dance moves and pulled off a phenomenal halftime performance.
One of the biggest changes from this year’s Super Bowl halftime show is that Mars wasn’t even paid for his performance. Both he and the event organizers knew that this was multi-million dollar exposure for him, so no extras were needed for this Hawaiian native.
Over 100 million people watch the Super Bowl every year, which is more than anything else on TV, and not everyone is looking to watch the big game. There are people watching that have never watched a regular season game in their life. There are some people who don’t even know who is playing, or have probably already forgotten. The Super Bowl is no longer just a sporting event, but it is now a pop culture event that millions look forward to, and now those millions of people know exactly who and how talented Bruno Mars is and can be.
Through all the fumbles, mistakes, and oddities that happened at the Super Bowl, I would have to say that Tim Tebow walked away as the MVP in my mind.
Tim Tebow went to the University of Florida, and became the first college sophomore to ever win the Heisman trophy in 2007. He entered the NFL draft in 2010 and was picked up by the Denver Broncos as a first round draft pick.
After spending two seasons with the Denver Broncos, the second as the Bronco’s starting quarterback: Tebow was traded to the New York Jets when the Broncos picked up Peyton Manning who was a free agent at the time. After half of the 2012 season with the Jets, Tebow was released only to then be picked up by the New England Patriots two months later. Unfortunately, Tebow was then cut after two months from the Patriots to be left with no contract.
While he was hired by ESPN in late December as a college football analyst, his Super Bowl commercials for T-Mobile focused on how he doesn’t need a contract because it would get in the way of doing things such as delivering a baby, tackling and capturing Bigfoot, saving puppies from a burning building, or being a star in a 1970s theme ,cop television show. It shows a humorous side of the football player that hadn’t been seen by many.
What makes these commercials so great is that Tebow is not only self-deprecating, which anyone can tell you that done right is always hilarious, but he is genuinely great in front of the camera. While Tebow did not have a long or successful professional football career, these advertisements and his new broadcasting contract with ESPN is going to turn Tim Tebow from one of the most tossed around players into a commercially hot commodity.
While part of the reason I wasn’t as impressed by this year’s Super Bowl was because the New England Patriots weren’t a contender, it also just had no big twists or notable spikes of improvement. The Broncos messed up and then continued on their downward slope the entire game, and the commercials were nothing compared to past years. Thank God for Bruno Mars and Tim Tebow helping to liven up what could have been a game I put on when I’m trying to fall asleep.
