America’s No. 1 sports spectacle, the Super Bowl, takes place Sunday, Feb. 3 in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta. Nothing captures the spirit of American culture quite like the championship game of the nation’s most popular sport.
The Super Bowl has consistently been the country’s most-watched TV program each year. The game has become such a mammoth event that it might as well be a national holiday. The 53rdedition of the classic should be an epic match-up between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams.
Super Bowl LIII (53) is actually a rematch of Super Bowl XXXVI (36) in 2002. Ironically, that was the year first-year starting quarterback Tom Bradyled his team to a 20-17 upset victory over the then St. Louis Rams. Now Brady is the grizzled veteran and Rams third-year QB starter Jared Goff, who was 7 years old in 2002, is the young upstart.
Both teams feature players from the Houston area. For the Rams, players with local ties are defensive lineman Michael Brockers (Chavez HS), safety Marqui Christian (Spring HS), linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (Alief Taylor HS) and receiver KhaDarel Hodge (Prairie View A&M University).
For New England, linebacker Elandon Roberts was a University of Houston standout. Defensive back Eric Rowe (Klein HS) is on injured reserve.
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