The Week Junior - USA (2022-02-11)

All about the Super Bowl

February 11, 2022 •The Week Junior

Memorable moments

The Super Bowl has a long list of shocking upsets

and major rivalries. Before Super Bowl 3, the

New York Jets were serious underdogs facing

the Baltimore Colts. In what is still known as “the

guarantee,” Jets quarterback Joe Namath boldly

declared that his team would win—and they did.

In 2008, the New England Patriots, who were

undefeated, were a minute away from winning

Super Bowl 42 over the New York Giants. Then

Giants receiver David Tyree caught a pass by

pressing the ball into his helmet. The Giants

won—and Tyree’s “helmet catch” became one of

the most famous moments in NFL history.

An American tradition

Football is an American sport, but the Super Bowl

is a global event broadcast in more than 170

countries. In 2021, 96.4 million people watched

the game. Even people who don’t love football

get caught up in the excitement, tuning in for

the commercials and the halftime show. In 2021,

companies paid at least $5.6 million to run a

30-second ad during the game, and Amazon paid

$16.8 million for the most expensive Super Bowl

spot of all time. Halftime shows have evolved

from marching bands to huge musical stars, and a

record 118.5 million people watched

Katy Perry in 2015. This year, rap

legends Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg,

Eminem, and Kendrick Lamar

will join Mary J. Blige onstage

for the halftime performance.

takes the field

Los Angeles Rams quarterback

Matthew Sta ord (left) and Cincinnati

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (right)

Joe Namath, #

SoFi Stadium

A 2021 Super Bowl ring

Chips and dips

In a 2021 poll, 68% of

people said chips and dip

were their fi rst choice for

a game-day snack. Salsa

was the number one dip.

Cheesy dips took second

place, while creamy French

onion and guacamole came

in third and fourth.

Pizza

Domino’s sells about

2 million pizzas on Super

Bowl Sunday, while Pizza Hut

sold more than 1.4 million

pies during the 2021 Super

Bowl. Most pizza lovers

choose pepperoni as their

topping and order about an

hour before kickoff.

What’s that?*

WOW!

An average of 120

di erent footballs are

used in one Super

Bowl game.

*It’s the logo for Super Bowl 56, written in Roman numerals. In that numbering

system, L is 50, V is fi ve, and I is one. The numbers get added together for the total.