By: Samantha Walker

This year’s super bowl was a needed moment of normalcy within the Coronavirus pandemic. Outside of being a stress relief, this super bowl was historic in its choice in entertainment.

When preparing for the biggest event of the season, the NFL reached out to poet Amanda Gorman to reflect on the challenges the world faced since the pandemic began last March.

For the first time in football history, the Super Bowl kicked off with Gorman’s “Chorus of the Captains,” celebrating the three people being honored at the event during the coin toss: Trimaine Davis, Suzie Dorner, and James Martin. Each of these people were considered heroes. Davis is a teacher, Dorner a nurse, and Martin a Marine Corps veteran.

Gorman has been in the spotlight since her incredible poem during the presidential inauguration that left the country speechless. Following the inauguration, Gorman received praise from significant people like former President Barack Obama, Broadway actor and writer Lin-Manual Miranda, and television personality Opera Winfrey.

When asked by Trevor Noah on the “Daily Show” about her historic performance at the Super Bowl Gorman said, “these are the moments I strive for in my lifetime, which is to bring poetry into places that we least expect it, so we can fully kind of grapple with the ways in which it can heal us and kind of resurrect us.”

Amanda Gorman is a 22-year-old woman in the beginning of her career. If this is how she is starting it, there is no guess of where her career will lead. The only thing the world can expect is that she will continue to break records and the status quo with every eloquently written stanza.

The following section is a complete copy of Gorman’s “Chorus of the Captains”:

“Today we honor our three captains
For their actions and impact in
A time of uncertainty and need.
They’ve taken the lead,
Exceeding all expectations and limitations
Uplifting their communities and neighbors
As leaders, healers, and educators.

James has felt the wounds of warfare,
But this warrior still shares
His home with at-risk kids.
During Covid, he’s event lent a hand,
Live-streaming football for family and fans.

Trimaine is an educator who works nonstop,
Providing his community with hotspots,
Laptops, and tech workshops,
So his students have all the tools
They need to succeed in life and school.

Suzie is the ICU nurse manager at a Tampa Hospital.
Her chronicles prove that even in tragedy, hope is possible.
She lost her grandmothers to the pandemic,
And fights to save other lives in the ICU battle zone,
Defining the frontline heroes risking their lives for our own.

Let us walk with these warriors,
Charge on with these champions,
And carry forth the call of our captains!
We celebrate them by acting
With courage and compassion,
By doing what is right and just.
For while we honor them today,
It is them who every day honor us.”