40 Fun Facts About Super Bowl LI

What was the Patriots' largest deficit before their comeback win over the Falcons in Super Bowl LI?

28–3 was the score with 8:31 left in the third quarter, a period in which Atlanta's win probability was put as high as 99.8%. New England then scored 25 unanswered points to force overtime.

Which Patriots receiver made a diving catch off a defender's shoe during the Super Bowl LI comeback?

Julian Edelman pinned the tipped ball inches above the turf for a 23-yard gain. Atlanta challenged the ruling, lost, and was charged its final timeout.

What formed an American flag in the sky behind Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl LI halftime show?

Drones, 300 of them fitted with LEDs, drew the flag in a segment recorded ahead of time. Intel's light-show fleet had never before been used in a television broadcast.

The original Schuyler sisters from which Broadway musical sang before kickoff at Super Bowl LI?

Hamilton sent Phillipa Soo and her two stage sisters to sing America the Beautiful moments before the national anthem. All three had originated their roles on Broadway.

Which former first lady joined her husband, the 41st president, for the Super Bowl LI coin toss?

Barbara Bush accompanied George H. W. Bush as he flipped the coin. The Patriots called heads, it landed tails, and the Falcons chose to defer to the second half.

Which scandal got Tom Brady suspended for four games in the season that ended with Super Bowl LI?

Deflategate, the row over deflated footballs in a playoff game, also cost the Patriots a $1 million fine and two draft picks. New England still went 3–1 without Brady.

Which quarterback was the NFL's Most Valuable Player for the 2016 season but lost Super Bowl LI?

Matt Ryan led the league in passer rating and ran its highest-scoring offence. In the Super Bowl he completed 17 of 23 passes and still finished on the losing side.

Which US network televised Super Bowl LI, with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in the booth?

Fox earned an estimated $20 million extra by airing four more commercials once the game reached overtime. It had struck deals with a few advertisers in case that ever happened.

In which country was Tom Brady's stolen Super Bowl LI game jersey recovered weeks after the game?

Mexico is where the FBI traced the jersey, taken by a man posing as a member of the international press. The haul also included Brady's missing jersey from Super Bowl XLIX.

Which singer told a Los Angeles concert crowd she had turned down the Super Bowl LI halftime show?

Adele said the NFL had asked her but that she did not think she suited the show. Lady Gaga announced on Instagram soon afterwards that the job was hers.

Which Patriots running back scored the winning touchdown in overtime of Super Bowl LI?

James White stretched across the goal line from two yards out for his third touchdown of the night. His 14 catches and 20 points were both Super Bowl records.

Which All-Pro Patriots star missed Super Bowl LI after a season-ending back injury?

Rob Gronkowski hurt his back against the Jets in late November and had surgery days later, having gained 540 yards on just 25 catches. New England still finished with the NFL's best record, 14–2.

Tom Brady's fourth Super Bowl MVP award in Super Bowl LI moved him past which three-time winner?

Joe Montana had shared the record of three with Brady. At 39, Brady also became the oldest player to win the award, a mark he later raised himself.

Which country star sang the Super Bowl LI national anthem, the first man to do so since Billy Joel?

Luke Bryan was also the first male country singer to take the anthem since Garth Brooks at Super Bowl XXVII. Lady Gaga, the halftime headliner, had sung it a year earlier.

Which beer brand's Super Bowl LI commercial told the story of its co-founder leaving Germany?

Budweiser's portrait of Adolphus Busch stirred controversy before kickoff, arriving soon after a presidential order banning travellers from several Muslim nations.

Which team won the second Super Bowl ever to reach overtime, seven years after Super Bowl LI?

The Kansas City Chiefs beat San Francisco 25–22 in Super Bowl LVIII. That game ran 74 minutes 57 seconds, taking the longest-Super-Bowl record from Super Bowl LI.

Which Falcons receiver made an acrobatic sideline catch for 27 yards late in Super Bowl LI?

Julio Jones put Atlanta on the New England 22, close enough for a field goal that could have sealed the title. A sack and a holding penalty then pushed the Falcons out of range.

Which Falcons offensive coordinator became the 49ers' head coach the day after Super Bowl LI?

Kyle Shanahan's move to San Francisco came with a six-year contract. His Atlanta offence had led the NFL in scoring that season with 540 points.

Which kicker hit the upright with an extra point during the Patriots' Super Bowl LI comeback?

Stephen Gostkowski's miss left New England 19 points down, and Atlanta recovered his onside kick moments later. The Patriots went for two after their next two touchdowns.

Which team had beaten the Falcons in their only Super Bowl appearance before Super Bowl LI?

The Denver Broncos beat Atlanta in Super Bowl XXXIII, played in January 1999. The Falcons were still chasing a first title when they met New England 18 years later.

Which Patriots receiver caught the two-point conversion that tied Super Bowl LI in the final minute?

Danny Amendola had also caught a six-yard touchdown pass earlier in the fourth quarter. He finished the night with eight receptions for 78 yards.

Which Patriots linebacker forced a fourth-quarter fumble with a strip-sack in Super Bowl LI?

Dont'a Hightower came free on a blitz when a running back missed his block. It was the Atlanta quarterback's first turnover in two months, and New England scored five plays later.

Which Falcons running back scored the first touchdown of Super Bowl LI on a five-yard run?

Devonta Freeman had opened Atlanta's night with a 37-yard burst, the longest run of the game. He finished as its top rusher with 75 yards on 11 carries.

Which team did the Falcons beat 44–21 in the NFC Championship Game to reach Super Bowl LI?

The Green Bay Packers were the last NFL visitors to the Georgia Dome, where Atlanta piled up 493 yards. The win sent the Falcons to only the second Super Bowl in franchise history.

Which team had the Patriots beaten in the only earlier Super Bowl played at NRG Stadium?

The Carolina Panthers lost Super Bowl XXXVIII there 32–29, thirteen years before Super Bowl LI. Like the Falcons, they had arrived as champions of the NFC South.

Before Super Bowl LI, the last NFL title game to reach overtime, in 1958, featured which two teams?

Colts and Giants met at Yankee Stadium, where Baltimore won in sudden death. That championship soon became known as the Greatest Game Ever Played.

Bill Belichick's seventh Super Bowl as a head coach, Super Bowl LI, broke a tie with which coach?

Don Shula had been the first head coach to reach six. The game was also Belichick's tenth Super Bowl in any role, one more than Dan Reeves.

Which 80 for Brady actress plays the fan who gives Tom Brady a pep talk during Super Bowl LI?

Lily Tomlin's character slips into the Patriots coordinators' booth to deliver it. The 2023 comedy, which Brady himself produced, invents the events around the real comeback.

Which Italian fashion house created all of Lady Gaga's outfits for the Super Bowl LI halftime show?

Versace's Donatella flew in to dress the singer before the show. The looks included a crystal-beaded jumpsuit and a jacket shaped like football shoulder pads.

Which Lady Gaga ballad returned to the Billboard Hot 100 at number four after Super Bowl LI?

Million Reasons had dropped off the chart a week earlier. She sang it at a piano while the crowd on the field waved LED batons, and it became her 14th top-ten single.

Which Texas city, staging the game for the third time, hosted Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium?

Houston had first staged the game in 1974 at Rice Stadium. Its baseball team reached the World Series eight months later, making it only the fourth city to host both events in one calendar year.

Which hit closed Lady Gaga's Super Bowl LI halftime show, performed in a football-inspired costume?

Bad Romance ended with flamethrowers, a microphone drop and a leap off the stage as she caught a football. She had vanished into the crowd for a quick change just before it.

Lady Gaga was the first Super Bowl halftime headliner with no guest acts since which band in 2010?

The Who had played alone seven years before Super Bowl LI. Every headliner in between, from the Black Eyed Peas to Coldplay, had brought guests on stage.

Which image was cut from 84 Lumber's Super Bowl LI commercial after the broadcaster objected?

A border wall stood at the end of a mother and daughter's journey to the United States. The broadcaster asked for the edit on grounds of sensitivity.

Which Falcons cornerback returned a Tom Brady interception 82 yards for a Super Bowl LI touchdown?

Robert Alford's score was the first pick-six of Brady's postseason career. Atlanta still became the first team to lose a Super Bowl after returning an interception for a touchdown.

Which Falcons defensive tackle tied a Super Bowl record with three sacks in Super Bowl LI?

Grady Jarrett took Brady down twice in three plays at the Atlanta seven, forcing New England to settle for a field goal.

Which rare play did the Patriots consider after fielding a punt late in regulation in Super Bowl LI?

A fair catch kick would have been the first ever attempted in a Super Bowl. New England instead faked a kneel-down and ran for 13 yards as regulation expired.

Which Patriots lineman's late sack helped push the Falcons out of field-goal range in Super Bowl LI?

Trey Flowers dropped the quarterback for a 12-yard loss when Atlanta was already within range. He finished the night with six tackles and 2.5 sacks.

Tom Brady's fifth title, in Super Bowl LI, tied which defender for most Super Bowl wins by a player?

Charles Haley won two with San Francisco and three with Dallas, making him the first five-time champion. Brady's five were also the most by any quarterback.

Where did Lady Gaga begin the Super Bowl LI halftime show, an idea suggested by her sister?

On the stadium roof she sang God Bless America and This Land Is Your Land in a prerecorded opening. Her sister Natali had suggested performing from the top of the dome.