Today is the Super Bowl, and every year around this time I find myself thinking about how I even got here.
Because the truth is, football was never part of my life growing up. I didn’t watch it as a kid. I didn’t grow up in a house where Sundays revolved around a game. The closest I ever got to football was playing NFL Blitz on my GameCube. I knew Madden existed, but I never touched it. Football just wasn’t my thing.
That changed in 2013, the year I found out I was going to be a dad.
I remember feeling overwhelmed. Excited, yes, but also anxious in a way I had never felt before. A friend of mine noticed that and said something simple that stuck with me. He told me I needed something to focus on while I was preparing for this huge life change. Something steady. Something outside my own head. He suggested football.
So he took my wife and me to a bar to watch a game. She couldn’t drink at the time, obviously, but she came along anyway. As the game played, my friend explained what was happening. The rules. The pacing. Why certain plays mattered. And something clicked.
Football wasn’t fast in the way I expected. It took its time. There were pauses. There was strategy. It was still exciting, but it gave my mind something to settle into. During a moment in my life where everything felt like it was speeding up, football slowed things down just enough.
He gave me one rule. Pick a team, and stick with them for the rest of the season, no matter what.
So I did what any 90s kid would do. I looked at logos. And for whatever reason, my brain said, that’s it. The Houston Texans. As of today, if you know anything about football, you can imagine my love-hate relationship with this team.
By October of that year, when my son was born, I was fully in. I had even subscribed to ESPN Magazine, and the promo gift that came with it was a Texans jacket. That’s what I was wearing at the hospital the day my son was born. Looking back, it feels symbolic in a strange way. Football had become this quiet companion during one of the biggest moments of my life.
It stayed with us after that. The following Super Bowl, I bought my son a Broncos onesie because I was really hoping they would win that year. I enjoyed watching the game. I enjoyed the ritual of it. Over time, watching football became something social. Going to a friend’s house. Hanging out. Saying, yeah, let’s watch the Super Bowl.
But here’s where my mild frustration started.
A lot of those gatherings weren’t really about the game. People would talk through entire drives. Conversations would drown out the action. And eventually it became clear that many were just waiting for the halftime show. I enjoy the halftime show too, but I actually wanted to watch the game. That disconnect always stuck with me.
Even now, I’ll admit that over the last couple of years I haven’t been as invested as I once was. Life shifts. Focus changes. But when the playoffs roll around, I still know who’s playing. I know which teams were strong. I know who I’m rooting for. That part never really left.
What has always fascinated me is how much the Super Bowl conversation centers on halftime.
And honestly, it always has.
I remember as a kid watching the halftime show when NSYNC, Britney Spears, and Aerosmith performed together. I wasn’t watching the game. I didn’t even fully understand that this performance was happening in between something else. To me, it was just a big show.
So when people ask why halftime feels bigger now, I don’t think it’s new. We just notice it more.
This year, that conversation feels especially loud for me because I’m from Puerto Ric and having Bad Bunny connected to the Super Bowl is a big deal. His growth, his accolades, the way he’s put the island on the map, even though it’s always been there, that matters.
At the same time, I’ve heard people say, where are you going to watch the halftime show, instead of where are you going to watch the Super Bowl. I’m happy people are tuning in. I really am. I just wish the game itself didn’t feel like an afterthought.
Which brings me to my biggest halftime gripe.
Once I really started paying attention, I noticed that many Super Bowl halftime performances forget one important thing. They’re happening in a stadium.
On TV, these performances look incredible. Cinematic. Polished. They feel like full concerts designed for the viewer at home. And that’s great. But what about the people in the stands?
Some performers get this right. Katy Perry absolutely dominated the field. She used the space. The scale. That lion moving across the stage made the entire stadium feel alive. Coldplay did something similar, especially when the field became part of the experience.
Others, while still great, feel like a concert dropped into the middle of a football field. I remember watching Bruno Mars at the Super Bowl and enjoying it, but realizing I had seen that exact same concert in Puerto Rico the year before. It wasn’t reimagined for the space. It was translated.
You have the entire field. Not just a stage. That’s what excites me when performers really lean into it.
And yes, side note, my wife is still sad that Pink has never done a Super Bowl halftime show. I agree. She would absolutely light up that field.
But this article isn’t really about football. Or halftime. Or even the Super Bowl.
It’s about something bigger.
We live in a time where people are quick to tear things down. Quick to dismiss. Quick to say something is bad without really engaging with it. And that’s something I’ve noticed more the older I get.
I love living in Puerto Rico. I’ve also visited the Dominican Republic. I’ve spent time in New York. A summer in New Jersey with family. Educational conferences in Philadelphia. Every place had something beautiful about it. Something worth absorbing.
I think we’re missing that mindset.
You don’t have to like everything. You don’t have to care about football. Maybe you love soccer instead. That’s fine. But there’s a difference between not liking something and not even giving it a chance.
Football was something I could enjoy during a stressful, life-changing moment. It gave me focus when I needed it. And to this day, I still enjoy watching a game or two. Sitting with friends. Complaining about a call. Talking about a good play.
So this Super Bowl Sunday, enjoy what you enjoy. Watch the game. Watch the halftime show. Critique it if you want. Just don’t dismiss it without really seeing it.
There’s good in more things than we sometimes allow ourselves to notice.
-Prof. Rock