The 2026 Super Bowl week was nothing short of memorable, for good and bad reasons.
Festivities began with the awards for the 2025-26 NFL season, where No. 9 Matthew Stafford, in particular, took home league MVP. Well-deserved, as the veteran totaled 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns on a 71.2 QBR.
Taking into consideration as well that this year was the first time the 38-year-old placed top five in MVP voting, there weren’t many complaining.
As goes for the other awards handed out as No. 11 Jaxson Smith-Njigba won Offensive Player of the Year, while No. 95 Myles Garrett won Defensive Player of the Year, coming off their historic seasons.
However, one can’t forget No. 54 Bobby Wagner winning the Walter Payton Man of the Year for not only his on-field performance, but also giving back to the community in the process.
Listed are the other notable honors given on the night:
- Assistant Coach of the Year: Josh McDaniels
- Coach of the Year: Mike Vrabel
- Comeback Player of the Year: No. 23 Christian McCaffrey
- Defensive Rookie of the Year: No. 49 Carson Schwesinger
- Offensive Rookie of the Year: No. 4 Tetairoa McMillan
- Protector of the Year: No. 62 Joe Thuney
The awards were exciting, but many still awaited the 60th Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium four days later.
The event itself kicked off with singer/songwriter Charlie Puth, sung his rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Yet as the game unfolded, New England surely would’ve preferred if it never ended, as the AFC Champions would struggle throughout the entire game. Although that wasn’t the case for the entire game.
In the early stages, it was a defensive battle for both teams, where talents such as No. 0 Christian Gonzalez for New England showed out.
That pattern continued until Seattle’s No. 5 Jason Myers managed to kick a 33-yard field goal, sending his team up by three to close the first quarter. He then continued that wave of momentum into the second quarter.
While No. 10 Drake Maye struggled to connect to any of New England’s offensive weapons on behalf of Seattle’s defense, Myers kicked two more field goals for 39 and 41 yards, respectively.
Afterwards, both teams entered their lockerooms for half-time as global superstar Bad Bunny performed for the crowd and audience at home alongside cameos from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin.
After the performance, both teams returned to the field for the third quarter, but shortly into it, Myers then kicked another field goal, once again 41 yards.
New England’s fortunes wouldn’t improve, as now in the fourth quarter, No. 14 Sam Darnold found No. 88 A.J. Barner in the endzone for the first touchdown of the game with a 16-yard pass.
A comeback was attempted by New England, though, as No. 13 Mack Hollins caught a 35-yard pass from Maye to get the team on the board.
Even with a late touchdown to No. 38 Rhamondre Stevenson, New England couldn’t combat Seattle on either side of the ball.
A record-breaking field goal from Myers and an interception from No. 7 Uchenna Nwosu that resulted in a 45-yard touchdown sealed the deal for Seattle.
A 29-13 victory that rewarded the team with its second championship in franchise history.
Following that, Roger Goodell awarded the Vince Lombardi trophy to the team, and also named No. 9 Kenneth Walker III Super Bowl 60 MVP for his 135-yard game.
Capping off a historic week for football fans, and beginning the countdown to next year.
