By Frank Pingue
SANTA CLARA, California, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Fans began streaming into Levi’s Stadium under sunny skies hours before kickoff on Sunday for Super Bowl LX, where the New England Patriots will face the Seattle Seahawks in an NFL championship showdown few could have predicted.
By midday, the streets surrounding the outdoor stadium were packed with cars while the sidewalks were a colorful mix of Seahawks and Patriots jerseys as fans of both teams paused for photos and exchanged good-natured trash talk.
Both teams began the season with 60-1 or worse odds to win the Super Bowl, making their championship game appearance one of the biggest surprises in recent NFL history.
SEAHAWKS FAVOURED
The Seahawks, who are favoured by 4-1/2 points, are looking to avenge their Super Bowl loss to New England 11 years ago when they were on the brink of a repeat championship until a goal-line interception by Malcolm Butler in the final moments.
Seattle’s Sam Darnold, playing for his fifth team in eight years and enjoying a late-career resurgence, is looking to join Tom Brady, Trent Dilfer, and Matthew Stafford as the only quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl in their first season with a team.
“We’re going to come out and punch them in the mouth,” Larry, a 48-year-old Seahawks season-ticket holder, said outside the stadium. “All this close game nonsense, it’s not going to happen this year.”
SEVENTH HEAVEN
For New England, the game represents a chance to secure an NFL-record seventh Super Bowl title and their first since February 2019.
With a win, New England’s Drake Maye, at 23 years and 162 days old, would surpass Ben Roethlisberger as the youngest starting quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl.
“Everybody is telling me that we are going to get destroyed by the Seahawks, but I think it will be a really close game,” David Baik, who flew in from Mexico and is still trying to secure a ticket to the game, said outside the stadium. “I think the Patriots will win by one score, maybe just a field goal.”
BAD BUNNY
The Super Bowl is scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. PT (2330 GMT).
Latino rap star Bad Bunny will perform at halftime and said fans can expect a show of unity and one that celebrates his Puerto Rican culture.
Bad Bunny, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, skipped the continental United States on his recent concert tour, saying he feared federal immigration agents would show up to arrest his fans.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue; Additional reporting by Angelica Medina and Max A. CherneyEditing by Toby Davis)
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