Howdy! If you came here for a fun Super Bowl recap of what the Chiefs’ and Buccaneers’ mascots were up to, you might want to just skip past my column this week. While that was my original plan, I had some thoughts about the Super Bowl this year that I just can’t shake.

So, generally, I feel like mascots are underused during the Super Bowl, because while mascots are supposed to provide whimsy, the Super Bowl today is just one giant, gross event stuffed to bursting seams with whimsy. There’s my short take on that. However, there was an entire event that happened outside of the stadium before the game, and I hardly saw any publicity on it until I started doing research on this week’s piece. 

Before the Super Bowl, members of various tribes and different indigenous activist groups gathered to protest the game, due to the fact that the name of the Kansas City Chiefs is still referential to indigenous people, which those who attended the protest cited as being incredibly offensive and lacking in honor. One protester was cited as saying ”We’re just saying if you’re not going to honor us, don’t use the arrowhead. You’re mocking our people!”

And then, thousands of people, 25,000 people to be exact, piled into a stadium during a pandemic that has been affecting native people at rates far higher than it has been affecting others due to a lack of funding, among other things. 

And I was doing my research for this piece, and it hit me. We really don’t care, do we? Like, I know there are some folks who genuinely care, but nobody could be bothered to say or do anything substantial as far as policy goes that would minimize the risk here. Like, of course the teams did fundraisers for COVID-19 relief, but when it came time to make practical decisions about hosting a sporting event, held by an organization with billions of dollars, they chose to put 25,000 people in a stadium together. 

 Like, if I had to think of a super spreader event to rule them all, I’d probably go with something like the Super Bowl. People travel from all over to attend, they take the masks off to eat their food and cheer, and it is packed. For the record, I don’t care if there were cardboard cutouts to make it look more packed, 25,000 people is too much. And we don’t even stop to think about the fact that in the year of our lord, 2021, people are still unquestionably supporting teams that use harmful imagery that only hurts indigenous people. It’s like the Washington Football Team decided to change its name, and that was it. That was their one moment of cultural sensitivity. No more. 

I guess I’m sorry if I’m yanking all of the fun out of a dumb football game used to sell products to people. The role of the mascot is kind, born out of a want for morale and whimsy during distressing times. If you remember, the original meaning of the word ‘mascot’ meant “Good luck charm.” People have used that intent to make gross, racial caricatures. (I am aware that KC Wolf is a wolf, but I am speaking on the greater imagery of the team.)  They have forgotten that the joy of sports is multicultural, and that when you use another person’s culture to tack up your team, you’re purposefully excusing a group of people from enjoying your team, unless they want to watch their own culture constantly be ridiculed. 

You can make fun of Valentine’s Day all you want, but at least it’s based on love, something that we all need a little more of nowadays. But if you’re looking for a holiday that is almost solely based in commercialism and care only in the performative sense, by all means, buy a ticket to the Super Bowl.