5 Super Bowl Facts for the Non-Football Fan

You may have heard: there’s a big game coming up on February 1, and whether you label yourself as a football fan or an ad watcher, odds are good you’ll be tuning in this weekend. In fact, last year’s event was the most-watched American television program in history with an average audience of 111.5 million viewers. To get you prepared, here are five random facts you should know before kickoff:

XLIX – Roman numerals have been used sparingly since the 14th century, but the Super Bowl keeps testing our simple math. Subtract 10 from 50, subtract 1 from 10, and add them together to get 49. Almost seems like Common Core math, doesn’t it? Of course, just when you thought things would get easy with Super Bowl L, think again. According to the NFL’s Vice President of Brand and Creative, “the ‘L’ isn’t as pleasing to the eye,” so next year it’ll be Super Bowl 50 before going back to Roman numerals.

3,049 - The miles between CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington, and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the largest distance between opponents in Super Bowl history. The previous record was 3,039 miles set in Super Bowl XIX between San Francisco and Miami. Ok, so technically Google Maps said if you drive through a portion of Canada, you can make the cross-country trip in 3,027 miles, but when you’re already traveling 45 hours, do you really want to mess with border patrol stops?

3 – The number of collegiate degrees between the two starting quarterbacks in this year’s Super Bowl. New England quarterback Tom Brady graduated from the University of Michigan with a general studies degree and a 3.3 GPA. His degree’s emphasis was in business and psychology. Seattle’s Russell Wilson, on the other hand, has a bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications at North Carolina State University and a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin. Who said that football players can’t be smart?

5 – Finalists in a contest to name the new Seattle football franchise in 1975. From a total of 20,365 entries, the list was dwindled down to the eventual winning Seahawks, the Mariners (which became the town’s Major League Baseball team in 1977), the Evergreens, the Olympics, and the Sockeyes. What’s a Sockeye, you ask? It’s a type of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean. Go Sockeyes!

20 – Members of the End Zone Militia for home games of the New England Patriots. Though the group consists of football fans, these guys are also actual living history re-enactors, who can be spotted at places throughout the year like Concord and Lexington, Ticonderoga, and Saratoga. In fact, in order to be in the group, you have to be a re-enactor for a minimum of five years. From their tricorne hats and waistcoats to their replica muskets, their uniforms are as original as possible. Exactly 12 score (240 years) after the American Revolutionary War started, wouldn’t it be fitting if the Patriots were victorious again?

Who are you rooting for in this year’s game?