The Stories of the Super Bowl
Today’s Super Bowl is one of the most anticipated championship games in recent sports history. The game will see the defending champions, the Seattle Seahawks, face the perennial powerhouse New England Patriots.
It is so highly anticipated for many different reasons. One of the many reasons is the fact that arguably the NFL’s top offense will face the NFL’s top defense in this heated matchup.
The spotlight is not so bright only due to how the players have showcased their talents on the field, it is also because of all of the media controversy that is being built into the headlines. If you are even a casual sports fan you have most likely heard by now about the Patriots and their scandal dubbed “Deflate-Gate”, a name given to the actions by the Patriots during their last game against the Indianapolis Colts. After starting an investigation, the NFL confirmed that 11 of the 12 footballs that the Patriots used in the game were deflated in varying degrees, the reason that this story is so big is that an underinflated football would be much easier for New England quarterback, Tom Brady, to grip, especially with the rough weather conditions that were going on at the time. The Patriots are in the midst of another cheating scandal and this one may be worse then the previous one, not because what they did on the field was worse but because they are now a repeat offender. In 2007, the Patriots had people video tape the New York Jets’ defensive coaching signals during a game they played against each other in September. The Patriots head coach was fined $500,000 and the team lost its first round draft pick for that season. The NFL is still investigating “Deflate-Gate” so any disciplinary actions that may be handed down have not happened yet.
Another huge media story that has clouded the week leading up to the Super Bowl has been the media day press conferences given by Seattle running back, Marshawn Lynch. Lynch has now become famous not only for his play on the field but also his relationship with the media. Throughout this whole season, both after and before games, whenever Lynch was asked any questions he would respond with no real comment, and sometimes he would just stare at the reporters without saying a word. Lynch has been fined numerous times by the NFL because of this, as NFL players are contractually obligated to have certain interactions with the media. This week at the Super Bowl media days Lynch’s battle with the media reached all new heights. Each player is required to spend at least four minutes and thirty seconds speaking to the media each day of media week, Lynch did just this, speaking to the media for the exact minimum amount of time that he had to be there. The most scrutinized part was that Lynch responded to every question asked with the exact same answer, “I’m just here so I won’t get fined”. The NFL released a statement prior to media week claiming that if Lynch had not shown up to the press conference then they would slap a half a million dollar fine on him, spurring his behavior. Lynch followed this up by showing up the next day, sitting there for the minimum amount of time once again, and instead of giving one answer he gave many answers. Lynch opened up his press conference with statements of disgust and contempt aimed at the members of the media present. Lynch then went on to give shoutouts for the rest of his interview, responding to questions with, “Shoutout to Oakland”, “Shoutout to my teammates”, and so on. This is a story that surely has not ended yet and will most likely become even bigger with Lynch’s interviews following the big game.
Whether it is going to be the amazing plays on the field, or a Marshawn Lynch post game press conference, this year’s Super Bowl is certainly going to be a must watch event.
