NEWYou can now listen to PK Press Club articles!
Former New York Giants star Tiki Barber said he hopes Super Bowl LX will be free of controversy amid criticism over Bad Bunny’s anti-ICE statements before his halftime show.
Bad Bunny’s selection as the Super Bowl halftime performer sparked backlash among some NFL fans last year, and the consternation grew after his remarks at the Grammy Awards this weekend.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PK Press Club
New York Giants running back (21) Tiki Barber runs past Washington Redskins cornerback (25) Kenny Wright as he heads toward the end zone at FedEx Field December 30, 2006. (Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports)
But as the days draw closer to the game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, Barber suggested to the Associated Press that he hopes the game will be the escape it’s supposed to be.
“The Super Bowl is supposed to be an escape, right? We’re supposed to go there so we don’t have to talk about the serious things in this country,” he told the outlet. “I hope this doesn’t transfer, because if it does, I think we’re really losing touch with what’s important in our society.”
Chances are it won’t.
Green Day, the famous punk rock band scheduled to perform before Super Bowl LX as part of a ceremony honoring the game’s MVPs, has notoriously opposed President Donald Trump’s administration. Last year, the group went after Vice President JD Vance.
Bad Bunny performs at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, file)
PATRIOTES OWNER ROBERT KRAFT CONTINUES THE FIGHT AGAINST ANTISEMITISM WITH NEW $15M SUPER BOWL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
Bad Bunny has also expressed his dissatisfaction with the United States Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its operations across the United States. Outrage against federal agents has grown following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
“Before I thank God, I’m going to say ICE,” Bad Bunny said. “We are not savages, we are not animals, we are not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”
Yet NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell believed Bad Bunny understood that the platform he was given was meant to unite people.
“Look, Bad Bunny is, and I think it was demonstrated last night, one of the greatest artists in the world and that’s one of the reasons we cast him,” Goodell said. “But the other reason is he understood the platform that he was on and that platform is used to unite people and to be able to bring people together with their creativity, with their talents and to be able to use this moment to do that and I think artists of the past have done that.
A detailed view of the Lombardi Trophy before a news conference with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center on February 2, 2026, in San Jose, California. (Logan Bowles/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PK Press Club APP
“I think Bad Bunny understands that and I think he’ll put in a great performance.”
