Iñako Díaz-Guerra

Updated Monday, February 12, 2024-19:39

  • Chronicle. Kansas City wins the Super Bowl of chaos: Taylor Swift is booed, her boyfriend shakes his coach and Patrick Mahomes reigns again

  • Reportage. Why do fans hate athletes' wives?

The

NFL

never loses. In recent years it has survived the retirement of the best in its history (

Tom Brady

), franchise owners expelled for continued abuse of their employees, racist emails from coaches, the shameful exile of

Colin Kaepernick

, the debate over concussions and the future of this sport, to a strange drop in the level of play last season... But for every problem it finds a new vein. None, of course, like that manna from heaven named

Taylor Swift

.

"The Swift effect exists and it is a blessing for us," said

Roger Goodell

, league commissioner in the days before the

Super Bowl

that the

Kansas City Chiefs

won in overtime (25-22) against the

San Francisco 49ers

. What he didn't say, but it wasn't necessary, was that he planned to exploit it to the fullest. While fans discussed whether or not the artist's presence bothered them and she tried to go as unnoticed as possible for, probably, the most famous woman on the planet, the

NFL

dedicated itself to riding the wave of abundance that accompanies the singer wherever she goes. goes.

In the absence of knowing the final data, the estimated audience for the game was

120 million viewers

, making it the most watched

Super Bowl

ever, ahead of the 115.1 million viewers who turned on the TV during the Chiefs' victory. , this time against Philadelphia, a year ago. The milestone goes far beyond sports. Only one small historical event brought more Americans in front of the screens: the arrival of man on the Moon in 1969. There were then 150 million, but after the moon landing,

football

and more

football

.

Anyone who knows a little about American sports knows that a movie can come out of any little thing. What happened during Sunday's game could have been scripted by Goodell himself. In sports, it was a fantastic Super Bowl for excitement, unexpected twists and legendary hero:

Patrick Mahomes

.

After being outmatched for much of the game, the Chiefs defense allowed it all to be in the hands of their

quarterback

on the final possession of overtime. If they stopped him without scoring, San Francisco won. If he scored the

touchdown

, the victory would be his. Like so many times since he came into the league like a tornado, Mahomes responded with magic. Thirteen plays and 75 yards later he won his third Super Bowl, only surpassed by

Joe Montana

and

Terry Bradshaw

, with four, and

Tom Brady

, with seven. The scary thing is that he has only been a starter for six seasons and, at 28 years old, he has more than half a career ahead of him. He doesn't have a ceiling. He surely doesn't have it.

But, although it may bother the purists, a Super Bowl is never just about sport and that's where the (other) stars aligned for the NFL: Swift and her boyfriend, Kansas City's second biggest star,

Travis Kelce

. The singer watched the game from a box, accompanied by her best friend

Blake Lively

and an entourage of NFL employees documenting everything. At one point, when she was competing with a friend in that very American hobby of downing a beer in one gulp, the organization decided to put her on the video scoreboard. Half a stadium began to boo her and she responded like the diva that she is: she emptied the glass, slammed it against the table and gave the audience a generous and victorious half smile.

Meanwhile, on the pitch, Kelce lived a parallel drama during a first half in which his only appearance was to lose his temper with his coach,

Andy Reid

, a giant and good-natured 65-year-old bear, and shake him for taking him off the field during a move. The image was ugly. Very ugly. With another coach she wouldn't have played more, but Reid is above that and in the second half he put the ball in her hands again and again. Kelce responded with nine receptions for 93 yards, the most of the game. In the end, they hugged for a long time and Reid settled the matter: "I love him the way he is." Taylor Swift seems to agree and their happy kiss on the grass was the image that invaded the planet. And there was the NFL to take advantage of it with an astronomical audience.

The NFL never loses. Patrick Mahomes and Taylor Swift, neither.