The Philadelphia Eagles walked into Super Bowl Lii as the clear-cut underdogs. Given their legacy of failure and their previous loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX, no one expected them to pull off the win. The ray of hope came when they demolished the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game. Of course, this Super Bowl wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, and that is not referring to the Patriots' loss.
There are so many things that stuck out like sore thumbs this year.
Broadcasting a 30 second blackout
Remember Super Bowl 47? It was also known as the “Blackout Bowl” due to a power outage from the halftime show. Power resumed 30 minutes later. Well, it reincarnated itself into a blank screen for the viewers at home. An NBC Sports spokesperson said the following, “We had a brief equipment failure that we quickly resolved. No game action or commercial time was missed.” Hands down, it was the best commercial of the night.
Eli Manning cost Brady the win again
The on-going joke of Giants quarterback Eli Manning being the only one to top Tom Brady at the Super Bowl manifested itself after the game.
One of the best commercials featured Manning and Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in a spoof of "Dirty Dancing," specifically the iconic lift done by Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. That’s right, the very presence of Eli Manning ruins everything for Brady and the Patriots. Eli, you’re the real MVP.
The birth of the selfie kid meme
Once the teams headed to the locker rooms, Justin Timberlake came out for this year’s halftime show. Towards the end of the show, Timberlake made his way up into the crowd. On the way there, he stopped next to a kid, who seemed like he wasn’t expecting the movement. After dancing with Timberlake, Ryan McKenna took the time to take a selfie with Timberlake. Thus, a new meme was born.
It’s going to be forgotten by next Sunday.
Fans wearing dog masks
As mentioned earlier, the Eagles were not expected to win. It was the story of "Rocky" coming true; in football form. As a means of preparing for the big game, some Eagles fans started to wear dog masks, symbolizing the team’s status as underdogs. While the support is completely understandable, portraying oneself as a dog in any way is demeaning.
Speaking of demeaning, Philly fans’ post-game celebrations were just terrible. What was the happiest moment in Philadelphia football turned into riots. Stay classy, Philly.