Patriots fan Cristian Ramirez ’29 and Seahawks fan Yui Takeuchi ’26 pose with their respective team jerseys.
Super Bowl Sunday nears, with the New England Patriots (Patriots) having made it back to the NFL finale to face the Seattle Seahawks (Seahawks), sparking excitement among some of Andover’s community members. On-campus watch parties are scheduled for Sunday evening, highlighting how the Super Bowl is independent of whether one’s team makes it or if one does not regularly watch the sport.
Instructor in English Thomas Kane, a decades-long Patriots fan, reflected on the team’s past success. He particularly mentioned its former head coach Bill Parcells and former quarterback Tom Brady as instrumental to Patriots’ triumphs.
“I remember when the games were ‘blacked out’ due to lack of ticket sales on some very losing teams in the late 80s and early 90s, and then [Bill] Parcells and then [Tom] Brady changed all that, and now it is akin to being a Yankees fan; the [Patriots] are widely loathed due to all the winning. Two bad years is nothing, so people have not forgotten their dominance. As Taylor Swift says, ‘Haters gonna hate, hate, hate.’ And, if they raise another banner, I’m ‘gonna shake, shake, shake it off.’ Go Pats!” wrote Kane in an email to The Phillipian.
Day student Yui Takeuchi ’26 grew up in Seattle and supports the Seahawks, which she feels is a minority sentiment due to heavy campus support for the Patriots. Takeuchi shared that she believes the Seahawks are the favorites heading into Sunday’s game.
“The Seahawks are going to blow out the Patriots. It is their rematch because they played against each other in 2015, and that was a really heartbreaking ending, but I think they will have no problem with the Patriots this time. Patriots fans still have faith in them that they’re going to win, but I think the stats and everything show otherwise,” said Takeuchi.
She continued, “The Seahawks are for some reason a really underrated team. No one ever has faith in the Seahawks… I know maybe two other Seahawks fans on campus. And then there’s been one [alumnus] that I’ve had some conversations with. So there’s really not many of us, but I think people will respect us more once the Seahawks win the Super Bowl and prove that we can.”
Tyler Baty ’27, who hails from California, professed support for the Seahawks. He also predicted a victory for the Seahawks.
“It’s obviously the Super Bowl, so it’ll be a little closely contested. [But it will be] one-sided as in there will be a clear winner. I don’t even think this is going to go to overtime. I think this is going to be four quarters and done. I believe in [Seahawks quarterback] Sam Darnold and what he has going on [in Seattle] and [Seahawks wide receiver] Jackson Smith-Njigba. They have what it takes to take it all the way,” said Baty.
Even as a Patriots fan, Jedward Sanchez ’29 shared his belief that the Seahawks would outperform the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
“Although I am a Patriots fan, I do not think they will pull out with this [win] this year. The Seahawks are just a better team in general, with their strong defense and offense. So I’m predicting a score of 10 to 28 [in a] Seahawks [victory],” said Sanchez.
Despite being from Atlanta, Brayden Ko ’28 discussed how he supports the Patriots due to living in Massachusetts. However, he noted that he did not have especially strong feelings regarding the game.
“I’m not from here, but since I am living in Massachusetts, [my] heart is telling me to go with the Patriots, and I do want the Patriots to win, but at the same time, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Seahawks win as well…I’m from Atlanta, and [the Atlanta Falcons] have never won a Super Bowl and we’ve lost to the Patriots in the infamous 28 to 3 game where we were up by 25, and we lost the game in overtime,” said Ko.
Although she does not follow football, Hannah Jung ’28 mentioned that she occasionally tunes in for the halftime show due to its cultural significance.
“Since I was a kid, my family would just always pull up the halftime shows and not watch the actual football part because it was kind of like watching like the Oscars or the Grammys. We were more interested in the pop culture aspects of the entire thing and not football the sport itself…[I also watch it] to be able to talk about it with friends later on because it’s a really big part of the culture here,” said Jung.
Ren Kilic ’29, a New York Jets fan, considers himself a minority among football fans on campus. However, he highlighted that the true beauty of the Super Bowl does not depend on one’s favorite team making it to the finale or whether one regularly follows football.
“[A Super Bowl’s important] because it’s a time where you can sit and watch a game with other people, and you’re together with people because you’re rooting for a team together. Or even if they’re not rooting for the same team, just fun to have friendly competition [and] keep spirits high,” said Kilic.
