A new champion will be revealed after the 50th edition of the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium, California, with the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers battling it out to replace the New England Patriots who lost in the AFC Championship game. We’ve asked you to share your photos and stories about what your NFL team means to you, and what sort of season your team has experienced.
‘It’s getting quite competitive these days’ Emily Chi, Denver Broncos fan
I’m a die hard Denver Broncos fan living in Brooklyn with my boyfriend Derek, who is an equally die hard Carolina Panthers fan. We were excited at 7-0 earlier in the season so you can imagine our excitement now that both our teams are Super Bowl bound! I’m a buyer for a large comic book store chain here in New York and Derek is an editor at NBC. Unfortunately we only made it to one game this season, the Panthers vs New York Giants where I impersonated a Panthers fan - just for the day! Sadly the Broncos didn’t have a match in New York this season.
Denver have had a great season, with some bumps both on and off the field along the way, and I’ve really enjoyed watching the Panthers play this season as well. The niceties and support of each other’s teams have ended though. It’s getting quite competitive these days leading up to the big game. My parents are both huge American Football fans so I grew up loving the game. While I have some fond memories watching the game over the years, I think this upcoming Super Bowl will become my favourite - regardless of the outcome!
Super Bowl 50 prediction: Denver Broncos. Derek might disagree.
‘It was a day to feel proud’ Eduardo Vasquez, Houston Texans fan
I live in Mexico City but try to travel to Houston for a Texans game at least once a year. When I was little I always watched the Super Bowl on TV with my family. My mom also had a friend living in Houston, so we used to go to visit and I became close friends with her sons. That friendship has become more relevant now that we fly all the way to go to the games with them. I was at the second home game of the season this year at the Reliant Stadium. It was Hispanic Heritage Day, recognising Hispanic and Latino contributions to the game. There’s a lot of Mexican Americans in Houston, and it was a day to feel proud and enjoy a good football game.
After a 0-2 start in the season, a win was needed against the Tampa Bay Bucaneers to keep the season alive. But the Texans hadn’t been playing very well in the first two games, with poor performances from both the offence and the defence, so there was a lot of uncertainty towards the game and the possible outcome. In the end the Texans managed to get their first win of the season. Against all odds and predictions, Texans managed to advanced to the playoffs by winning the AFC South Division title, only the third one in the team’s history, with a 9-7 record. They accomplished this feat having played four different quarterbacks, that was the first time in NFL history that a team qualified to the postseason with 4 QBs winning a game during the season.
Super Bowl 50 prediction: I can’t see past the Carolina Panthers. Their quarterback Cam Newton is playing amazingly well.
‘The sport is really strong in Sheffield and has a good future’ Ted Faulkner, Pittsburgh Steelers fan
Growing up I was always interested in American Football but it wasn’t easy to access. But I remember watching the highlights of the 2009 Super Bowl with James Harrison’s interception and then Santonio Holmes’s catch sold the Pittsburgh Steelers for me.
A few years later, I went to an open ‘Rookie’ day for the Sheffield Predators. They have a good set up and I have been playing offensive line for them ever since. This then led to coaching for Sheffield University’s Sabres team. I have learned so much in that time but, compared to most coaches in the UK, I’m still a novice. It is such a great sport, as there is a role for anyone and everyone is welcome. The sport is really strong in Sheffield and has a good future. In fact a lot of local British teams are recruiting at the moment.
In summer 2014 I went with my wife on a tour of the East Coast for her 30th birthday and we took a detour to Pittsburgh for the Steelers training camp and a Heinz Field stadium tour. The team is a real community team which came through in every aspect. It seemed strange that an American Football team could have more of a public service focus than any English Premier team.
As a teacher I usually only catch the first half of the Super Bowl as I have to be at work the day after. This year half term has fallen at the right time so it will be my first in 10 years. Even better all of the Sheffield teams (the two university teams and the adult team) are having one big event. To say I’m looking forward to it is an understatement.
This season has been a good one for the Steelers given the injuries they have had to cope with. Brown has been outstanding this year and without him in the playoffs we didn’t stand much of a chance against Denver’s defence.
Super Bowl 50 prediction: I think the Panthers are too strong this year. It is only the ‘Peyton retires on a high’ narrative that makes me think Denver Broncos have a long shot.
‘The team is romantic, steeped in history and tradition.’ James, Cleveland Browns fan
My wife’s best friend is now settled in Ohio so we visit Cleveland fairly regularly. As a city it gets a bad rap around the rest of the US and has undoubtedly been through some tough times, but I’ve grown really fond of it over the years. A trip to a baseball game over ten years ago sealed my fate as a follower of all the cities’ three sports teams; the Cleveland Indians in the MLB, the Cavaliers in the NBA and the Browns in America Football. Together they haven’t won a championship since 1964.
I was lucky enough to go to my first Browns game last September, and it turned out to be brilliant. They came from behind with a last-gasp field-goal to beat the New Orleans Saints on a gorgeous sunny day at the FirstEnergy Stadium. Each win really means something to the team’s fans, who are amazingly passionate, as well as fatalistic, given how little they have to cheer about. Being downtown before and after the game was infectious. The team is romantic, steeped in history and tradition. There are no helmet logos and no cheerleaders. The thought of how amazing it would be if they ever did well, even for a short amount of time, is probably what keeps us all going year after year. As things are hopes are inevitably dashed by around October with high draft positions squandered year after year.
I don’t think anyone was expecting great things from the Browns this season but neither was it forecast to be quite as bad as it turned out, especially after some positive signs last season. I think it was predictable that the offense would be weak but the poor performance of a defense, supposedly full of superstars and high draft picks, was really disappointing. But I love the NFL. Despite its glaring faults nothing quite matches its peaks of athleticism and its reliable generation of extraordinary story lines.
Super Bowl 50 prediction: Carolina Panthers to win. They’ve both got great defenses but I think the Panthers have slightly more threat in offense. They’ve looked like the best team in the NFL all year.
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