CULTURE SHOCK: Why Super Bowl LIX Was More Significant Than Met the Eye

Elise McCue (Daily Signal)

In what turned out to be hardly a showdown at all between the triumphant Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, Super Bowl LIX still surprised audiences with its pro-America themes throughout.

Here is your cultural rundown of what happened during the big game Sunday night:

Player and Prayers

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The two biggest players in Sunday night’s game directly attributed their successes to their faith. When sideline reporter Erin Andrews asked Eagles quarterback and Super Bowl LIX MVP Jalen Hurts how it felt to win, he replied:

“God is good. He’s greater than all the highs and lows.”

Even Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes on X thanked God for “every opportunity he has given me” after his team’s devastating loss, which he took responsibility for.

Patriotism Is Back

Christian singer Lauren Daigle got her “moment of vindication” while performing “America the Beautiful” at Sunday night’s game just five years after New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell attempted to cancel her New Year’s Eve performance in the same city.

Why? In 2020, Daigle gave an impromptu performance at an outdoor prayer service and concert that also served as a protest against COVID-19 restrictions on churches.

During jazz singer Jon Batiste’s rendition of the national anthem, some players were moved to tears. Moreover, The New York Times reported that not a single player took a knee during the anthem in protest of racial inequality this year.

Also during the national anthem, the crowd roared with applause and cheers when the jumbotron showed President Donald Trump.

He is the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl, and he came flanked with an all-star crew of congressmen and prominent conservative voices.

But not all celebrity attendees were feeling the love, as Taylor Swift was met with boos when she appeared on the jumbotron. Bad night for “Miss Americana” as her “Heartbreak Prince” and Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce gave credence to her lyrics, “My team is losing.”

The NFL removed the “End Racism” messaging from the end zone. Maybe with the woke scolds gone from the White House, people realize we aren’t the racist nation they told us we were.

‘Trad’ Ads

Instead of forcing wokeness down our throats between plays, this year’s Super Bowl advertisements promulgated traditional (trad) values, much to the surprise of everyone.

One category of ads in particular promoted creating healthy, women-only sports spaces. An NFL ad advocated for making “girls flag football” a varsity sport rather than inserting girls into the more dangerous, male-geared version, football.

Nike also ran an advertisement with the theme of female empowerment, and not a single male transgender-identifying athlete was featured.

Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Performance

Rapper Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show has conservatives divided on whether his performance was just alright or the worst of all time.

I will let you make up your own mind on this one. From where I’m standing, there were no indecent wardrobe malfunctions, vulgar dances, or obviously woke messages thrown in our faces. A win is a win.

Lamar also performed his Grammy award-winning song “Not Like Us,” in which he calls out rapper Drake for allegedly being a “certified pedophile” on the national stage—a bold choice that should strike fear in the hearts of his fellow entertainers who conceal this kind of behavior.

Regardless of which team you were personally rooting for—if either at all—this Super Bowl indicated a shift in American culture. The oddly apolitical messaging of the big game cannot be ignored considering its past inclination for the woke, and we should embrace these small wins as potential indicators of a much larger move back to sanity.