NFL Super Bowl Ad Goes Back to Flag Football Future
Like the NFL Super Bowl ads before it, this one is replete with current players, including the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett and the Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson (an NFL flag football ambassador). Plus, there are alumni such as former running back Marshawn Lynch—who’s thrown support behind women’s football and the Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC) tackle league. Unlike past ads, however, NFL talent serves largely as comic relief for NFL global flag football ambassadors, including Brazil’s Gabi Bankhardt, France’s Elisa De Santis, Australia’s Kodie Fuller, Germany’s Mona Stevens, and Mexico’s Tania Rincon.
Directed by Peter Berg—the Friday Night Lights and Lone Survivor director who steered the NFL and 72andSunny’s first Super Bowl collaboration “NFL 100” in 2019—the spot ends with a reminder of how far girls and women’s sports have come—and where more can be done.
Since the NFL and 72andSunny’s ad with Mexican flag quarterback Diana Flores ran in 2023, the league and its teams have sponsored youth flag football programs through their NFL Flag, pushed to make flag football a varsity sport in 15 states (with pilot programs in 18 others) and successfully lobbied for men’s and women’s flag football’s inclusion in the 2029 Los Angeles Olympics.
