(Photo credit: NFL)
By: Piper Johnson, Sports4Free Youth Media
We are highlighting some of our very own Vegas young media prospects at Vegas Sports Today
Our junior correspondent 12-year old Piper Johnson @PRPiper of Mike O’Callaghan i3 Learn Academy Middle School and @Sports4freeyouthmedia covered Super Bowl LIX and shared his piece.
(New Orleans, Louisiana) — Winning the Super Bowl not only brings joy to the team’s fan base but it can also bring great traction and economic wealth to the city. For cities like Philadelphia and Kansas City which have been hit with some tragic events over the past couple seasons a win at the Super Bowl can bring back some much needed joy.
During opening night of Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, each team’s players and coaches were made available to the media. The players were asked a number of questions from their favorite foods to the game plan to beat their opponents.I was fortunate enough to be a part of the media madness and was interested in the team and its fan base thoughts about what a Super Bowl win can do to uplift their city.
Philadelphia is a huge sports town generally with a little more than passionate fan base. This is the city that threw snowballs and boo’ed at Santa Claus at halftime of a 7-7 game, when the Eagles played the Minnesota Vikings on December 15, 1968. The Vikings ended up winning that game 24-17.
Lifelong Philadelphia Eagles fan Omar Sanders, definitely agreed that Philly fans can be a little different. “Different people may hear different things about Philly and how the fans are,” said Sanders. “They are probably all true. We are a pretty edgy bunch. I would be the first to admit that.”
Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni backed Sanders’ claim of the Philly fan base. “Obviously, we have a very great and passionate fan base.”
That edge has propelled the team to some successful seasons over the last few years. The Eagles find themselves back in the Super Bowl facing a familiar foe in the Kansas City Chiefs. A win in this game can have a huge lift to a city that has been hit with various tragic events like the recent airplane crash.
“We played Kansas City in the Super Bowl not that long ago,” said Sanders. “It would mean a lot to the city just generally. To beat the Chiefs, a team who we lost to, in the Super Bowl, to get another chance at them would mean a lot. I think it would be big for the city, especially with the recent tragedy.”
One of the city of Brotherly Love’s newest residents, NFL’s 2024 Offensive Most Valuable Player [MVP], Eagles running back, Saquon Barkley shared his opinion on what a Super Bowl win would mean for Philadelphia. “It will be great for the city of Philadelphia. It has been a long time since 2017, especially with all the events that have been going on right now. I think we will make it more special.”
Philadelphia is a city that loves their teams. They may have some odd ways of showing their support but speaking with those who are associated with the team and the city, there is no other place and fan base like Philadelphia.
“I just know the city will be torn up in a great way.” said Eagles defensive end, Brandon Graham. “It will be so much joy in the city, not that it is not already but it will be even more.”
“We were able to play a lot of games in that stadium (Lincoln Financial Field), this season,” said Sirianni. “Three games there in the postseason, all of the energy that they (Eagles fans) gave us to help us get to this moment, we definitely want to repay that back. It will be a nice feeling to pay them back with a parade.”
Kansas City
(New Orleans, Louisiana)–The Kansas City Chiefs are on the verge of rewriting the history books of the National Football League. The Chiefs can be the first team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl in three consecutive years. A three-peat would engrave the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty in stone. The team’s and its fans alike excitement will be through the roof should the Chiefs pull off a three-peat.
According to Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid, a win in this game could put this Chiefs era on par or even surpass the greatest teams eras like the San Francisco 49ers of the 1980s, the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s and the New England Patriots of the 2000.
“It will be an opportunity to do something that has never been done before,” said Reid. “It can put us on the Mount Rushmore of greatest teams in history of any sport ever. It is one hell of an opportunity. It is something that the whole city would be proud of and remember for the rest of their lives. It is a tremendous opportunity to go out and do something that has never been done.”
Long time Chiefs fan Jane Male, whose earliest memories of her team are of the 1970s. Her father Bill Nicks would take her to the Raiders vs. Chiefs games, and to this day that is always the game that she attends.
Jane’s feelings towards the Chiefs opportunity to three-peat mimics almost every Chief’s fan in the city.
“A championship and a three-peat brings more attention to the city,” said Jane. “It places a spotlight on the wonderful people in the city and all of the amazing things we have to offer here. It can also bring more revenue into the city.”
At least one person did not seem interested in talking about the historic three-peat.
“Anytime that you can win a game against a good football team, Kansas City loves it.” said Kansas City Chiefs head coach, Andy Reid. “They are passionate fans. We don’t talk about the three-peat or any of that stuff that we come across.”
Although coach Reid is not interested in thinking about a three-peat, the Kansas City Chiefs are well aware of how huge it will be for the history of the city. In 2012, Kansas City Chiefs were in a rough patch coming off a 2-12 season. The tragic incident with Jovan Belcher, the Chiefs player, who killed his girlfriend and then drove to the Chiefs facility where he took his own life. The team has dealt with a lot of adversity over the years but when coach Reid took over the duties the team’s fortune seemed turned around, to what we all currently see. A team on the brink of history. The fans that had to deal with so many years of frustration of losing is now here for it all.
“The Chiefs became the organization that we rally behind.” said Jane. “We are incredibly proud of our team. We usually wear red every Friday showing our love for our Chiefs. Over this past week, we have been even more spirited as everyone is wearing red everyday preparing for the Super Bowl.”
Las Vegas
(Las Vegas, Nevada)–Las Vegas, Nevada has become a major factor in sports within the past seven years or so. In that time, the city has experienced a lot of successes. Ironically, there were claims that professional sports could not succeed in Las Vegas because there are so many distractions with nightlife and gambling. It began when the Vegas Golden Knights came to Las Vegas in 2017 as a National Hockey League’s expansion team. The Golden Knights became the city’s first major professional sports franchise and within three years of their arrival, they won the Stanley Cup.
The Las Vegas Aces relocated from San Antonio, Texas in 2018 and has been consistently one of the WNBA’s best organizations winning back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023.
The National Football League’s Raiders are the latest team to call Las Vegas home, relocating to the city in 2020 from Oakland, California. Success for the Raiders has not been as consistent on the field as with the other Las Vegas professional sports organizations.
What if it were to turn around? How would the city feel if the Las Vegas Raiders could win a Super Bowl?
For die-hard Raiders fan and native of Las Vegas Ray Langston (who has followed the team for over 20 years), it could be the biggest championship in Las Vegas history.
“As a long time Raiders fan,” Langston shared. “I have traveled with the Raiders from Los Angeles, to Oakland and now here in Las Vegas. It will be awesome for the Raiders to win a Super Bowl. It will be a great thing for the city. I think we really need that, it will change the whole dynamic about what people think about the Raiders and the city of Las Vegas as a sports town. If we win one and bring a championship here, it would be bigger than the Vegas Golden Knights winning the Stanley Cup.”
With the addition of new head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly the Las Vegas Raiders could possibly be closer to winning that championship than they have been in years.
