The New York Times’ Athletic thought it would be a good idea to randomly poll NFL players about their thoughts on this year’s Super Bowl Halftime headliner, Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny will be the first primarily-Spanish-language performer at the Halftime show, and he’s also one of the biggest global superstars in music, and the most streamed male artist in the world for several years running. Bad Bunny’s selection makes a lot of sense in a lot of different directions, especially when you consider that the NFL has spent a lot of time and money to appeal to the broadest demographics out there. They’ve put a lot of money into getting women into football, and they’ve made a lot of effort to make inroads with Latin America too. But the actual dudes who play pro football have their own opinions about these things. First off, in a poll of “do you approve of Bad Bunny as the Halftime performer” the results were: 58.6% approve and 41.4% disapprove. The quotes in the piece are pretty wild too:
The September announcement of Bad Bunny drew ire in right-wing media circles after President Donald Trump panned the selection. At the league meeting in October, commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters that the league was not considering replacing the “King of Latin Trap,” who will be the first Spanish-language artist to perform on the Super Bowl halftime stage.
Reaction from players in this poll was largely split, though the majority who didn’t like the selection cited a lack of familiarity with Bad Bunny’s music or said they simply preferred a different performer. A few respondents, though, did weigh in on the culture-war aspect.“I don’t even know who Bad Bunny is,” said an NFC offensive player. “I always think it should be an American. I think they’re trying too hard with this international stuff.” (Bad Bunny is from Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States.)
Said a different NFC offensive player: “I do not like it. (I’d prefer) anyone who’s synonymous with football and football culture. I feel like there’s tons of artists out there who are fans of the game.”
And an AFC offensive player said: “I think there are better examples of character and morality than Bad Bunny.”
Conversely, a few players are excited to have something different.
“I’ve heard his music obviously, but I don’t speak Spanish so I’m not a big fan,” said one NFC defensive player. “But I do think it’s cool to have him, because America is based on diversity. America was built on immigration. So I feel like having him just furthers that American dream. I like it. I like the choice.”
Added an NFC special teamer: “I love the culture behind it.”
And an NFC offensive player who was adamant the NFL bring country music back to the Super Bowl: “I don’t know who (Bad Bunny) is and never listened to his music. But I saw on the year-end data he’s the global leader in music streams; it makes sense wanting to make this a global performance. Good for ratings.”
As for the music, some respondents noted they aren’t devoted fans, but are still excited by the selection. “I think it’s pretty awesome,” said an NFC offensive player. “Some of his music is really good, man. When I was training, I heard it in Florida. I heard his music all the time. And it’s a bop, man.”
Added another NFC offensive player: “Heck yeah. It’s going to be a good time. The girls like Bad Bunny, so of course, we’re going to like it.” And an AFC defensive player: “It’s a little different, but I’m a fan of changing things up, exploring different musical genres.”
The Athletic actually used “I don’t even know who Bad Bunny is. I always think it should be an American” as one of their social media pull quotes. It definitely got people talking, talking about how football players are idiots, although as you can see, most of the guys seemed ambivalent or happy about the choice. This is important: “The girls like Bad Bunny, so of course, we’re going to like it.” This is very true. I imagine that while many NFL players don’t speak Spanish or care about Bad Bunny, they have wives or girlfriends who love Benito. Or, like the guys in Florida or other densely-populated Spanish-speaking areas, they’re more exposed to artists like Benito and they love it.
One of the funniest parts about this piece was when the Athletic asked players to dream-cast their Halftime show. Many said Michael Jackson would be their pick, but one guy said “Beyonce. They should just let her do it every year.” Hard agree. But one guy said: “Florence & The Machine. But I don’t know if everybody would rock with that.” I really need to know which player is rocking out to Flo!!!
Photos courtesy of Getty Images and Backgrid.
