For sports fans, the Super Bowl is one of the most exciting events each year, an opportunity for the champions of the NFC and AFC to battle for American Football’s ultimate prize. When the clock runs out, one team solidifies their place in the record books as a Super Bowl winner, and the other fades into historical insignificance as a Super Bowl loser.
However, it’s not just the teams who emerge on either side of this clear divide. Aside from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs, there are others who stand in some ways victorious. Similarly, others who stand defeated.
Here are five winners, and five losers, from Super Bowl LV.
Winners
Tom Brady
Without question, with his victory on Sunday evening, Tom Brady confirmed his status as football’s Greatest Of All Time (GOAT). His victory was his 7th Super Bowl win and 5th Super Bowl MVP, all at the age of 43 and in his first year with the Buccaneers after leaving the New England Patriots after 20 seasons.
On Sunday night, Brady threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns as he led his team to a 31-9 victory over the favored Kansas City Chiefs. Brady dominates the record books, including most games won by a quarterback (264), most games played by a quarterback (346), most games started by a quarterback (344), most combined passing yards (91,653), most combined touchdown passes (664), and the only quarterback to win the Super Bowl for teams in both the AFC and NFC.
While debates will still rage regarding whether Brady is the GOAT across all sports, his status as football’s GOAT is without question, with his unprecedented prowess at quarterback unlikely to be rivaled for some time.
Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski
Rob Gronkowski, already considered by many to be the most dominant tight end in NFL history, further cemented his legacy on Sunday. “Gronk” finished off his first season away from New England by catching two of Brady’s three touchdown passes, giving the pair the record for most postseason touchdowns between a quarterback and receiver, with 14.
This comes after Gronkowski announced his retirement in 2019 after nine seasons in the NFL, citing mental health concerns as a result of physical injuries throughout his career. The fact that Brady was adamant that the Buccaneers sign Gronkowski is testament to the role he plays on any winning team, as Sunday evening showed all too well.
Patrick Mahomes
While the headlines will obviously focus on Brady, the talent of Patrick Mahomes was on full display throughout Super Bowl LV. The final score of 31-9 simply does not show the effort Mahomes demonstrated as he tried to drag his team across the finish line, often as the relentless Buccaneers defense closed in around him.
Scrambling to avoid pass rushers, some of his desperate throws were magnificent, with one even coming as he fell horizontally to the ground. In defeat, he also showed himself to be magnanimous and humble, saying that the loss only motivates him to reflect on his performance and work to improve.
Sports
Despite the efforts of the radical Left, sports remains as one of our society’s last pure meritocracies. Whether on the football field, swimming pool, or race track, issues like politics (or even personality) are put aside — for better or for worse — as the focus falls onto the singular factor that matters — ability.
On Sunday evening, while pre-game, sideline, and post-game content tried to drag politics to the forefront, the moments between the whistles were free of nonsense as we enjoyed an exhibition of elite athletic competition. We can only hope that sports stay that way.
Anti-Cancel Culture
Finally, one “winner” we should remember is the fight against cancel culture. Since being labeled as a “Trump supporter” after he was photographed in possession of a Make America Great Again hat, Brady has been criticized and condemned. Similarly, Gronkowski was criticized when a photo of him fist-bumping President Donald Trump resurfaced.
By the virtues of sporting meritocracy, however, cancel culture had no impact. Brady, despite being — gasp — maskless before and after the game, won. While conservatives should celebrate Brady for his abilities, not his supposed political positions, we should all celebrate the fact that the cancel culture warriors lost … this time.
Honorable mentions
- The Super Bowl streaker, who now faces a trespassing charge.
- The Weeknd, for finding a way to terrify and/or confuse almost every audience member.
- Todd Bowles, Defensive Coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for stifling the prolific Chiefs offense
- Sarah Thomas, for being the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl game.
Losers
Amy Schumer
Aside from being the face of mayonnaise, so-called comedian Amy Schumer would be best suited for advertising beige paint, with the cringeworthy “mayo/mother” pun unfortunately being the funniest moment in her appearance as Hellman’s “fairy god-mayo.”
Schumer stands alongside several other Leftist “comedians” whose Super Bowl moments landed about as gracefully as a misshapen brick. For example, Stephen Colbert loudly scarfed down some chicken wings before, weirdly, licking dip from a football.
Amanda Gorman
After her slam poetry-esque performance at Joe Biden’s Inauguration, Amanda Gorman has become another hero for the Left. As a result, she was shoehorned into the Super Bowl schedule, providing yet another average “poem” celebrated by the Left because of her sudden “status” and her style of presentation, rather than for the content of her latest creation.
Unity
Eager to build on the Biden campaign’s promise of unity, several corporations attempted to align their capitalist desires with the Democratic party narrative. Most notably, Bruce Springsteen — a vocal Democrat — partnered with Jeep to call for the “ReUnited” States of America, while offering no reason why we should actually unite beyond the fact that a Democrat is now back in the White House, and particularly when a large proportion of the event was dedicated to promulgating false political narratives regarding systemic racism.
Colin Kaepernick
Since the Super Bowl, at its core, focused on meritocracy, the inevitable loser will be the radical Left’s chosen sporting hero — Colin Kaepernick. While progressives shake their fists with rage, citing Kaepernick’s successful career as an activist as evidence that he deserves a place on NFL’s stage, we are reminded — yet again — that the only variable that matters is talent.
Talent which, as any true sports fan knows, Kaepernick simply doesn’t have at this point in his career.
Joe Biden and Jill Biden
Finally, Joe and Jill Biden were the last losers of the Super Bowl. Appearing on two occasions — before the game and during a halftime interview — the Bidens appeared to lecture Americans on what matters most. After President Biden began with a bizarre announcement of “Super Bowl Sunday,” accompanied by his trademark joker grin, Jill Biden — an unelected official — thanked healthcare heroes … while an unmasked Joe Biden scratched his nose prior to an event involving very little mask-wearing or social distancing. At half time, Biden offered other uniting thoughts, such as the “lack” of black coaches in the NFL.
Honorable Mentions
- Twitter, for its usual display of ignorant and woke hot takes.
- Tyrann Mathieu for seemingly accusing Tom Brady of racism, saying “He called me something I won’t repeat…”
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.