The Super Bowl is no stranger to sparking controversy, whether it’s misguided moments in the halftime concert, commercials, or sometimes within the game itself.
Compared to years like 2004 with Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson’s infamous nudity scandal or the unrelenting backlash towards Maroon 5 and Travis Scott’s 2019 performance, Usher’s performance this year has been one of the least talked about aspects of this year’s Super Bowl. I haven’t heard much discourse over the commercials this year, either.
So what have people been so worked up about? I think a better question is, where do I even start?
First of all, the question of whether or not the NFL has scripted its games to decide the winners in advance has been floating around for a little while now. However, it seems like within the past year or two, what started as a wild conspiracy theory has developed into an idea that fans of the league can’t ignore anymore. Everything seems to follow very clear narratives, with some moments seeming too good (or predictable) to be true. This has reached its fever pitch with this year’s Super Bowl.
“The NFL has alerted us that, for the first time ever, we will have a double overtime game,” commented CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus before this year’s Super Bowl.
While this didn’t quite happen, it was as close to coming to fruition as it could have been, with the game-winning touchdown from the Chiefs coming with three seconds left and easily could have been a field goal, which would have sent it to double overtime.
Was this just a last-second pivot in the script to save face for the “reality” of the sport? Who’s to say?
However, fans have been quick to point out how “coincidental” it is for the NFL’s new poster children, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, to win their third Super Bowl in five years.
Now, with Kelce’s relationship with Taylor Swift being all the league could talk about all year and the way Mahomes and Kelce’s faces have been in all kinds of advertising, it only seems more and more suspicious that they won the Super Bowl again when they didn’t seem all that great throughout the regular season.
The NFL’s female viewership skyrocketed this season thanks to Taylor Swift’s involvement. The statistics show that there were 9% more female viewers than in the 2023 Super Bowl, bringing the number up to 58.8 million women. People have been theorizing that the NFL would want to retain those new viewers by making the team they’re cheering for win it all, allowing them all to celebrate the win with Swift and Kelce.
Even President Biden got in on the conspiracy, posting a deviously edited picture of himself with glowing red eyes, captioned “Just like we drew it up” right after the game.
Another controversial moment was when they showed a clip of Travis Kelce running up to, shoving, and screaming at his head coach, Andy Reid. Kelce looks absolutely unhinged, and fans were not pleased to watch him berate his coach, who is one of the most iconic and well-respected coaches in the league.
No doubt, it’s definitely a bad look for Kelce, his team, and the league at large. Some of Taylor Swift’s fans were quick to call him out for the ugly scene online, questioning if this is the kind of guy she should be involved with.
Overall, between questions over whether the game was rigged, Kelce’s meltdown, and all of the attention focused on Taylor Swift, the circus of negative discourse surrounding this year’s Super Bowl has left a bad taste in the mouths of many football fans. It will be interesting to see if and how the NFL responds to these issues moving forward.
Super Bowl’s LVIII multiple controversies
The Super Bowl is no stranger to sparking controversy, whether it’s misguided moments in the halftime concert, commercials, or sometimes within the game itself.
Compared to years like 2004 with Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson’s infamous nudity scandal or the unrelenting backlash towards Maroon 5 and Travis Scott’s 2019 performance, Usher’s performance this year has been one of the least talked about aspects of this year’s Super Bowl. I haven’t heard much discourse over the commercials this year, either.
So what have people been so worked up about? I think a better question is, where do I even start?
First of all, the question of whether or not the NFL has scripted its games to decide the winners in advance has been floating around for a little while now. However, it seems like within the past year or two, what started as a wild conspiracy theory has developed into an idea that fans of the league can’t ignore anymore. Everything seems to follow very clear narratives, with some moments seeming too good (or predictable) to be true. This has reached its fever pitch with this year’s Super Bowl.
“The NFL has alerted us that, for the first time ever, we will have a double overtime game,” commented CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus before this year’s Super Bowl.
While this didn’t quite happen, it was as close to coming to fruition as it could have been, with the game-winning touchdown from the Chiefs coming with three seconds left and easily could have been a field goal, which would have sent it to double overtime.
Was this just a last-second pivot in the script to save face for the “reality” of the sport? Who’s to say?
However, fans have been quick to point out how “coincidental” it is for the NFL’s new poster children, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, to win their third Super Bowl in five years.
Now, with Kelce’s relationship with Taylor Swift being all the league could talk about all year and the way Mahomes and Kelce’s faces have been in all kinds of advertising, it only seems more and more suspicious that they won the Super Bowl again when they didn’t seem all that great throughout the regular season.
The NFL’s female viewership skyrocketed this season thanks to Taylor Swift’s involvement. The statistics show that there were 9% more female viewers than in the 2023 Super Bowl, bringing the number up to 58.8 million women. People have been theorizing that the NFL would want to retain those new viewers by making the team they’re cheering for win it all, allowing them all to celebrate the win with Swift and Kelce.
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Even President Biden got in on the conspiracy, posting a deviously edited picture of himself with glowing red eyes, captioned “Just like we drew it up” right after the game.
Another controversial moment was when they showed a clip of Travis Kelce running up to, shoving, and screaming at his head coach, Andy Reid. Kelce looks absolutely unhinged, and fans were not pleased to watch him berate his coach, who is one of the most iconic and well-respected coaches in the league.
No doubt, it’s definitely a bad look for Kelce, his team, and the league at large. Some of Taylor Swift’s fans were quick to call him out for the ugly scene online, questioning if this is the kind of guy she should be involved with.
Overall, between questions over whether the game was rigged, Kelce’s meltdown, and all of the attention focused on Taylor Swift, the circus of negative discourse surrounding this year’s Super Bowl has left a bad taste in the mouths of many football fans. It will be interesting to see if and how the NFL responds to these issues moving forward.