The Super Bowl halftime show included a prop straight from the archives of pro football.
Bad Bunny used a vintage NFL football near the end of the set, onto which the words “Together, We Are America” were printed. He then said, in English, “God Bless America,” before reciting the names of all of the countries that are in South and North America.
Via chief NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, the ball came from Wilson. It was a vintage game ball from the late ’60s or early ’70s.
The ball had white stripes on each end; the NFL used that ball for late afternoon and night games. As of 1976, the stripes were removed.
Bad Bunny also had the number 64 in white on his white jersey. As noted by McCarthy, Bad Bunny did it as an homage to his uncle, who played football and wore that number.
It was a great gesture. Family is everything, and it’s nice to see that even the world’s biggest stars remain cognizant of who and where they came from.
Yes, the entire show ended up being more grist for the corporate media-driven outrage and counter-outrage machine. If we would all focus more on what makes us alike instead of what makes us different, maybe we could find a path from this boiling-frog dystopian maze that has emerged over the past 10 years.