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A Week to Remember

Bobby Sena, winner of this year's NFL PLay 60 Super Kid contest, runs across the field before Super Bowl XLIX.
Bobby Sena, winner of this year's NFL PLay 60 Super Kid contest, runs across the field before Super Bowl XLIX.

Bobby Sena, winner of this year's NFL PLay 60 Super Kid contest, runs across the field before Super Bowl XLIX.

Editor’s note: Scholastic News Kid Reporter Bobby Sena was named this year’s NFL Play 60 Super Kid. Bobby traveled to Arizona with his family to participate in events leading up to the Super Bowl, where he handed the game ball to officials. Here is his account.

Football players, NFL legends, sportscasters, and fans descended on Phoenix, Arizona, in the week leading up to the Super Bowl.

On Tuesday, the league held its annual Media Day, where players and coaches from the AFC and NFC championship teams were available for interviews. Reporters held out microphones and fans scrambled for autographs as members of the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks answered questions and posed for pictures.

 

PLAY 60 KIDS’ DAY

On Wednesday, more than 1,000 students from the greater Phoenix area participated in the NFL Play 60 Kids’ Day, where kids played alongside NFL players, including Arizona Cardinals cornerback Justin Bethel. During the event, young people were encouraged to exercise 60 minutes every day by throwing, catching, kicking, and running.

At a press conference on Thursday, halftime performer Katy Perry got a roar of laughter when she imitated the infamous running back Marshawn Lynch of the Seattle Seahawks, saying: “I’m here so I don’t get fined.”

In the past, the NFL has fined Lynch for refusing to answer questions from the news media, which is against the league’s policy.

On the Friday before the big game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell held a press conference. He answered questions about some of the controversies the league has faced recently, including concerns about the safety of the game and possible criminal violations by NFL players. Goodell acknowledged that it has been “a tough year” for him.

 

THE BIG DAY ARRIVES

Still, Americans couldn’t resist watching the Super Bowl when it finally arrived on Sunday, February 1. More than 114.4 million people tuned in, making it the most-watched event in television history.

The game, which the Patriots won in the final seconds, lived up to all of the hype that had been building the week before. For this reporter, it was a thrill to hand the game ball to officials before the opening kickoff.

Photo by Ben Liebenberg / AP Images