Stars, crowds descend on Glendale for Super Bowl Sunday

Weeks of festivities in the Valley culminated in the Philadelphia Eagles taking on the Kansas City Chiefs at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, but even before the game the star power was visible around the stadium.

Sunday’s game was the first Super Bowl to feature two Black starting quarterbacks, and the Vince Lombardi Trophy introduction during the pregame show featured Doug Williams, the first Black quarterback to ever start in a Super Bowl. Williams led his team, now called the Washington Commanders, to victory in the 1988 Super Bowl. The trophy introduction also featured Hall of Famers from both teams, Will Shields for the Chiefs and Harold Carmichael for the Eagles.

The coin flip at the start of the game included a video tribute to former Arizona Cardinals and ASU football player Pat Tillman, narrated by Kevin Costner. Tillman scholars were participants in the coin flip, which was won by the Chiefs.

The game itself provided excitement for both fan bases, with fast touchdowns from each side early in the first quarter.

Even the Super Bowl participants were not immune to traffic snarls ahead of the game. The Eagles’ buses got stuck in traffic heading to the stadium and were escorted to the game by police. Fans who did not get tickets to the game wanted in on the excitement, filling bars and restaurants at Westgate Entertainment District near the stadium.

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Celebrity sightings at the game included pop star Billie Eilish, Apple CEO Tim Cook, notorious Eagles fan and actor Bradley Cooper, NBA star LeBron James, Elon Musk and Adele, who had previously said she was only attending the game for Rihanna’s halftime show performance.

The pregame broadcast included honoring the medical staff of the Cincinnati Bengals, the Buffalo Bills and the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, who treated Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin after he went into cardiac arrest during a game in early January. Hamlin also made an appearance at the game, exchanging hugs and high-fives with the medical professionals involved in his care.

The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott, was honored ahead of the game but was met with boos from fans of the Eagles, Dallas' divisional rival.

Sheryl Lee Ralph, the Emmy-winning star of Abbott Elementary, began the pregame entertainment with her version of “Lift Every Voice,” the Black national anthem, accompanied by a gospel choir with sign language interpretation done by Justina Miles, who was also the sign language interpreter for Rihanna’s halftime show.

At Thursday’s pregame news conference in Phoenix, Ralph said her goal was to "make sure we could have a version for people to understand the great lyrics of this song and what it means.”

Throughout the game and pregame show, viewers got glimpses on a big screen of Horseshoe Bend, the Grand Canyon and other Arizona landmarks.

In downtown Phoenix, Margaret T. Hance Park hosted its first-ever official Super Bowl watch party, which drew a crowd of Eagles and Chiefs fans and locals who wanted to take part in the day’s festivities.

Each team was featured in a pregame introduction video with DJ Khaled, who introduced each of the players before the teams headed onto the field.

Recording artist Babyface performed “America the Beautiful,” playing a guitar decorated with American flags and the Roman numerals LVII. Sign language interpretation was done by Colin Denny, a member of the Navajo Nation.

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Grammy-award winner Chris Stapleton performed the Star-Spangled Banner with Troy Kotsur, the Mesa actor who won the Best Supporting Actor award at the 2021 Oscars for "Coda," performing the national anthem in American Sign Language. Stapleton’s performance also included views of the USS Carl Vinson. The pregame flyover was done by an all-female aircrew, celebrating 50 years of women flying in the Navy.

Rihanna wowed the crowd with a halftime show entrance on a floating platform, starting the performance over the field before being slowly lowered to a red platform in the middle of the field. Backup dancers in all-white outfits continued to dance on floating platforms above the main stage. The show was Rihanna’s first live performance since 2018, when she sang at the Grammy Awards.

A few days before the game, Rihanna said the biggest challenge of planning the show was "trying to cram 17 years of work into 13 minutes." The Barbadian singer said she was excited to showcase her long career, and in a press conference on Feb. 9, said: "I have yet to sleep. We were working at the venue all last night and I kind of just stayed there."

Rihanna performed the entire show solo, without any additional guest performers. The performance ended with a rendition of “Diamonds,” as she was raised back onto the floating platform accompanied by a fireworks display to wow guests with the stadium's roof open.

The singer’s representative confirmed her pregnancy shortly after she ended her 13-minute set at Super Bowl 57.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Stars, crowds descend on Glendale for Super Bowl Sunday