9 reasons to care about the Super Bowl, even if you don’t like football

From the promise of a big game from Lehigh Valley native Saquon Barkley, to seeing that big Chiefs fan Taylor Swift, to Big Dom, to President Trump’s reaction if the Eagles win, there are plenty of reasons for non-football fans to care about Super Bowl LIX.

Don’t know the Philadelphia Eagles from the “Hotel California” Eagles? Didn’t have any clue who Travis Kelce was until he started dating a certain singer-songwriter from Berks County? That’s ok. Not everyone’s interested in football.

More than 100 million people will be tuned into the Super Bowl on Sunday, as the Eagles try to prevent the Kansas City Chiefs from becoming the first team in NFL history to three-peat™. And millions of those viewers won’t know the first thing about football. They’ll be watching for the commercials, or because it’s a thing everyone does, or because they’re at a Super Bowl party and what else are you going to do?

If you identify as a non-football fan and you’re trying to find some reason to be interested about the big game, we’re here to help.

Here are nine reasons to be interested in Super Bowl LIX.

Saquon Barkley

Lehigh Valley native Saquon Barkley is the latest in a long line of NFL greats from Pennsylvania. With more than 2,000 yards rushing in the regular and postseason, the Eagles running back has the kind of game-breaking skills to join the likes of Joe Namath, Fred Biletnikoff, Randy White, and Joe Montana as Pa.-born players who have been named Super Bowl MVP.

Homegrown connections to the Birds

There’s a good chance the Eagles wouldn’t be where they are without the help of defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, a Dunmore native who graduated from East Stroudsburg University. Fangio was hired for the job after the 2023 season. Under his guidance, the Eagles ranked 1st in total defense and 2nd in scoring defense this season, after placing 26th and 30th in those categories in 2023.

Other Eagles with Pa. connections:

• Wide receiver Jahan Dotson attended Nazareth Area High School and Penn State
• Cornerback Avonte Maddox and backup quarterback Kenny Pickett went to Pitt
• Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr., whose dad played for the Birds, attended St. Joe’s Prep High School in Philly 

The Chiefs’ most famous fan

Stop us if you’ve heard this before: Berks County native Taylor Swift is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, brother of Eagles legend Jason Kelce. It’s a safe bet she’ll get some camera time during the broadcast.

Other famous Chiefs fans you could see during the game include actors Jon Hamm, Paul Rudd, and Jason Sudekis, and singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge.

Famous Eagles fans

Keep an eye out for actors Bradley Cooper, Kevin Hart, Miles Teller, and Rob McElhenney in Eagles gear.

Homegrown connections to the Chiefs

The biggest one (no pun intended about the man’s size) is Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who held that job with the Eagles for 14 years. He was the winningest coach in franchise history and led the team to its first Super Bowl in 24 years in 2004.

Chiefs general manager Brett Veach is a native of Mount Carmel in Northumberland County, and a former coaching assistant and scout for the Eagles.

Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy is from Manheim, Lancaster County, and served as an assistant coach under Reid in Philadelphia for five seasons.

As for the players, Chiefs wide receiver Justin Watson attended South Fayette High School and the University of Pennsylvania, and center Hunter Nourzad attended Penn State. 

Big Dom

Perhaps one of the most recognizable figures on the Philadelphia sideline has zero catches this season, zero tackles and probably doesn’t have a great time in the 40-yard dash.

A visible presence who is never too far from head coach Nick Sirianni, Eagles sideline security guy and South Philly native Dom “Big Dom” DiSandro became a cult hero after a sideline scuffle with 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw in 2023. In addition to keeping the peace on the sidelines, Big Dom makes South Philly dinner recommendations for the national TV broadcast crews (Aroma on 3rd seems to be a favorite of the Fox crew), so he’ll likely get a shoutout during the game from Fox’s Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt, who are calling the action. And Eagles fans surely hope to see him up on the podium at the end of the game, standing beside Siranni as the team is awarded the Vince Lombardi trophy.

The Tush Push (aka The Brotherly Shove)

The Eagles’ signature short yardage play, which basically looks like a bunch of people tripping and falling onto each other, could very well play a huge role in a tight spot.

Pa. connections to the commercials

Comedian Shane Gillis, a Mechanicsburg native, is teaming up with Post Malone in a game day ad for Bud Light.

Will President Trump congratulate the Eagles if they win?

Trump congratulated the Chiefs after clinching the AFC title, but didn’t extend congratulations to the Birds for winning the NFC crown. Could it have something to do with the fact that a fair amount of Eagles players had planned to skip the White House visit in 2018 after winning the Super Bowl, prompting Trump to rescind the invitation? (It’s not like Trump to hold a grudge or anything). 

Trump will be attending the game, the first sitting president to do so. On Tuesday at the White House, Trump declined to answer a question from a reporter predicting a winner of the game. “I don’t want to say, but there’s a certain quarterback that seems to be a pretty good winner,” Trump said, appearing to refer to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomeske

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.