War and Football: The Gulf War Super Bowl 20 Years Later

Next Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers will be the 10th since 9/11—a decade of contests held as U.S. troops are actively engaged around the world. The game has gone on—occasionally with a red, white and blue nod to the broader world: Bono’s star-spangled jacket, Budweiser’s familiar Clydesdales genuflecting before a shattered lower Manhattan skyline or recorded greetings from the troops proceeded by messages of appreciation from the athletes. It’s part of the “new normal” that descended in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks and, a decade later, nothing about it seems extraordinary. But for the NFL, the networks broadcasting it and the advertisers that support it, the script was not always so clear. Twenty years ago in Tampa, the New York Giants faced the favored Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV. The matchup featured a classic contrast in styles: Buffalo’s high-octane no-huddle offense ag...