What A Game!

This year, I had the pleasure of watching the game with my husband, my son and his fiance in California, alone with  a bunch of their friends. It was certainly nice watching the game on Pacific Coast time. 

We made quite the spread of food, including fun appetizers. There is nothing like homemade guacamole, fig jam on cheese and wonderful sandwiches from Baycity. 

I like to review some of the great stories and moments from the game and lessons we can all take away. 

This was the first time that two brothers (Travis and Jason Kelce) played against one another in the Super Bowl. Their mom, Donna, who sported one of the coolest split outfits to show her love for both teams, had one son to console and one son with whom to celebrate. I can only imagine the emotions she must have been feeling. This is very relevant to business. We have our ups and our downs on a daily basis and we have to navigate our emotions with grace. 

More history was made with the longest punt return in Super Bowl history, 65 yards, by Chiefs returner, Kadarius Toney. This is a reminder that anything can happen! It is actually quite rare to see a return that big in the Super Bowl. Research showed me that there have only been three returns of over 45 yards in Super Bowl history! Be ready for every opportunity, embrace it and then run with it. 

Jalen Hurts, quarterback for the Eagles, scored three rushing touchdowns in the game, which tied the current record. Just a few years ago, in 2018 when he was playing at Alabama, he was  benched at halftime of the College Football Championship. This is all about staying persistent and sticking to your vision. True success is a combination of mindset, action and consistency. It takes a strong mindset from Hurts to get to where he is and action with consistency in training and playing. 

On the other side of the field, Patrick Mahomes was playing with that injured ankle and could even be seen limping at the end of the first half. After half time, he decided to continue playing and ended up winning the Super Bowl MVP. We all go through hard times and we have to be resilient. He knew what he could do and felt comfortable playing and we saw his determination pay off in a big way. 

On the sidelines, head coach of the Eagles, Nick Sirianni, was emotional during the singing of the National Anthem by Chris Stapleton. He said in an interview after the game that he had imagined being there in that moment since he was a little boy. This shows the power of visualization and dreaming BIG!

Rihanna surprised everyone at halftime with her pregnancy announcement. The grueling practice it takes to rehearse and put on a show at that level and do it all while pregnant. Wow! Truly amazing. Women can really do anything, can’t we?! Perfect reminder as we approach Women’s History Month in March. 

Speaking of babies, two Chiefs players had their partners go into labor on Super Bowl Sunday. 

Chiefs guard Nick Allegretti’s wife Christina gave birth to twin girls and Chariah Gordon, the girlfriend of wide receiver/returner Mecole Hardman went into labor, as well. Kylie Kelce, wife of Center for the Eagles, Jason Kelce was 38 weeks pregnant and came to the game with two of her OBs!

Now for some commercials we loved here at Slater Success!

A family affair with married couple Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck for Dunkin Donuts; Bradley Cooper and his mom, Gloria, for T-Mobile; and Miles Teller and his wife, Keleigh, for Bud Light. Loved the humor with Jen and Ben. Enjoyed the cute relationship Bradley and his mom have and all the bloopers for their commercial and of course, the dancing for Miles and Keleigh! So much fun. What a great reminder to spend time with the ones we love, have a good time and celebrate life!

Google Pixel and erasing mistakes in your photos was a really good commercial. This is a very cool feature and wouldn’t it be nice if we could erase all of our mistakes that easily? Hey, they are learning lessons. And each time we fail at something, it only helps us the next time around. 

A really great branding commercial was Jack Harlow with the triangle for Doritos. They have used the shape of their chip in such innovative ways. And I wasn’t expecting the Elton John cameo at the end of that one! Know your brand and embrace it. 

This was an exciting game overall and getting to spend the time with my family made it that much sweeter. Happy Valentine’s Day!