George HW Bush will perform the pre-game coin toss at Sunday’s Super Bowl LI, and yet the abiding theme of the buildup has been that of the NFL trying to prevent politics from overshadowing its championship game. From Donald Trump’s presidency to the league’s own Deflategate scandal, the biggest talking points have revolved around anything but X’s and O’s.
The Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, the only Muslim player in action, arrived to a barrage of questions regarding the travel ban on arrivals to the United States from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett caused a stir at the opening night media event by suggesting that he would decline the customary invitation to the White House should his team win, such is his discomfort with the president.
Then, two days later, the league commissioner, Roger Goodell, was forced to deny charges of censorship after journalists noted no mention of Trump had made it into any of the official league transcripts of press conferences so far. Likewise, all references to Deflategate – a controversy in which the Patriots were punished for using underinflated footballs for a play-off win over Indianapolis in 2015 – appeared to have been omitted.
The encroachment of politics has been an overarching theme of this NFL season, ever since the San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick declined to stand for the national anthem before a preseason game in August. He went on to repeat that gesture throughout the rest of the year, citing a desire to raise awareness of discrimination against minorities in America.
A number of other players across the league followed suit, including New England’s Bennett and Devin McCourty, both of whom raised a fist when the anthem finished at their game against Arizona in September. Neither player intends to repeat the gesture on Sunday, with both telling the Observer they were reacting to a particular set of events at a particular moment in time.
“There was a lot going on in the country,” McCourty says. “You saw it across the NFL, guys trying to get involved and just being a light for the different things that were going on, and being a voice for certain people that don’t have a voice … To do it now would be just looking for attention in the biggest game.”
Bennett, even while coming to the same conclusion about the anthem, may not agree fully with that sentiment. He has willingly engaged in political conversations with reporters throughout the week and explained his comments about not wanting to attend the White House by saying: “I don’t support the person in it.”
Others have been more circumspect. Sanu, whose mother came to America in the 1970s to escape war in Sierra Leone (though she has moved back), refused to be drawn into any conversation on the travel ban, saying: “I’m here to focus on my football.”
The Patriots quarterback Tom Brady struck much the same note when asked about his friendship with Trump – something he has talked about in the past. He is focused for now on his own goals and specifically the opportunity to become the first quarterback to win five Super Bowls, surpassing his childhood idol Joe Montana.
After serving out his four-game Deflategate suspension, Brady put together one of the very best seasons of his career by throwing 28 touchdowns against two interceptions as he steered New England to the No1 seed in the AFC.
Sunday’s contest promises to be a high-scoring one against a Falcons team with the only quarterback in the NFL who may be playing even better. Matt Ryan’s 9.3 yards per passing attempt were the most of any quarterback in 16 years. Brady, who finished second in the league in that same category, averaged 8.2.
Both quarterbacks have an impressive arsenal of offensive weapons at their disposal. Atlanta’s four-times Pro Bowl wide receiver Julio Jones hauled in an astonishing 300 yards worth of passes in a single game against Carolina earlier this season – only 36 shy of the NFL record – but it is the supporting cast of fellow receivers Sanu and Taylor Gabriel, together with the running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, that makes this team so dangerous.
Brady lost his own top target, the tight end Rob Gronkowski, to injury late in the regular season, but continues to find viable alternatives. The fourth-year wide receiver Chris Hogan caught a modest 38 passes for 680 yards in 15 regular-season games, but has reeled in 13 for 275 – including a pair of touchdowns – already in the play-offs.
The Patriots have experience on their side. Brady, now 39 years old, has played in more Super Bowls (six) on his own than the entire Atlanta roster combined (five). Not that the Falcons are intimidated. “OK, they got Tom Brady,” Sanu says. “We got Matt Ryan. You just got to go out there and play ball.”
After a week of politics and polemics, both sets of players may be relieved to finally do so.
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