Golden necklace around her neck marked with her boyfriend’s N.87, the singer attracted attention in the stands, notably downing a beer at full speed. With her romance, she has shifted the NFL, already all-powerful, into another dimension for several months, thanks to her phenomenal notoriety. Other celebrities flocked to Las Vegas, among the 300,000 visitors over the weekend, and especially in the Allegiant Stadium (65,000 seats), such as the basketball player LeBron James, the singer Lana Del Rey or the popstar Beyoncé, who published during the meeting of two new pieces.
“Queen Bey” thus slightly eclipsed the traditional halftime show and the performance of American crooner Usher, who revisited his best songs with a nostalgic show with slick choreography, benefiting from the complicity of Alicia Keys in particular.
A victory “so important”
On the pitch, the NFL grand final, organized for the first time in Las Vegas, offered intense suspense, for a victory for the Chiefs, the third in five years after 2020, already against the 49ers, and 2023. is the first time that a franchise has retained its trophy since the New England Patriots in 2004. Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes (28), the great architect of his team’s return to the heart of the match, thus won his third title, accompanied by a third MVP distinction. At his position, only Tom Brady, Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman and Joe Montana have lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy at least three times.
This victory “is so important”, he said. “Despite our struggles this season and during the play-offs, the guys never failed.” “We are not finished yet. We have a young team, we will continue to move forward,” he assured, when asked about the possible emerging “dynasty” of the Chiefs. The defenses instead took precedence over the attacks during an extremely close meeting, continued into overtime after a 19-19 tie at the end of four regulation quarters.
“The game perfectly represents our season”
The 49ers struck first with three points at the foot of Jake Moody then a touchdown from Christian McCaffrey (11th minute of the 2nd quarter), who showed his burst of speed, he the grandson of Dave Sime, vice-president. Olympic champion in the 100m at the Rome Olympic Games in 1960. Trailing 10 to 3 at halftime, the Chiefs seemed tense, like Travis Kelce’s improbable shove on his coach Andy Reid, seeming frustrated by his low usage.
But Taylor Swift’s favorite recovered well afterwards: he helped his team get closer to the goal with a decisive action at the end of regulation time, then allowing the Chiefs to snatch the equalizer with a shot kick from Harrison Butker three seconds from time. In overtime, the 49ers took control thanks to three points on the foot, but thus opened the door to the victorious touchdown (six points) from Mecole Hardman, perfectly found by Mahomes, exceptional at the end of the match.
“The game perfectly represents our season. We held on thanks to our defense, before making some good offensive choices at decisive moments. I’m proud of us, that we continued to believe in it,” said Mahomes.