In Texas, football is everything. From high school to college to the NFL, it’s a game that rallies the state like no other.
So naturally, with the Houston Texans hosting the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, NBC Sports took a look at how important the sport is to the region. And there may not be a better voice to drive the point home than Kyle Chandler, who plays Coach Taylor on Friday Night Lights. Check out the montage above.
Super Bowl LVII is inching closer, and while we may not yet know which two teams will take the field, we do know which performers will take the stage.
The NFL revealed on Jan. 24 that Chris Stapleton, Babyface, Tony Kotsur, Sheryl Lee Ralph and others will take part in the Super Bowl pregame festivities, completing the list of entertainers that will perform in the southwest.
Super Bowl LVII will take place on Feb. 12 at 6:30 p.m. EST. See below for the full list of performers that will be present at the big game.
RELATED: Click here for more information about Super Bowl LVII
Chris Stapleton will be performing the national anthem at State Farm Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday. The country music star is an 8x Grammy, 15x Country Music and 10x Academy of Country Music Award winner.
Born and raised in Kentucky, Stapleton spent years in Nashville as a songwriter before debuting his solo album, Traveller, in 2015. The album, best known for its No. 1 hit “Tennessee Whiskey”, propelled Stapleton to stardom, sweeping the Country Music Awards and eventually going platinum. Since then, Stapleton has released three other albums, the latest entitled Starting Over, which debuted in 2020.
RELATED: Ranking the most memorable Super Bowl national anthems of all time
Babyface, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Tony Kotsur, among other performers, will take the field during the pregame ceremonies of Super Bowl LVII.
The 12-time Grammy-Award winner Babyface will perform “America the Beautiful” prior to kickoff. The 64-year-old recording artist, songwriter and producer has had 125 Top 10 hits, 44 No. 1 R&B hits and 16 No. 1 pop hits.
Emmy, Critics Choice and Independent Spirit award winning actress Ralph will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Ralph is best known for her role in the hit comedy series “Abbott Elementary”, a part which earned her the distinction of being both a 2023 Golden Globe nominee and Critics’ Choice Award winner. The 66-year old Connecticut native also won an Emmy for “Abbott Elementary” this past September.
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Kotsur is also make an appearance in the Super Bowl pregame, performing the national anthem in American Sign Language on behalf of the National Association of the Deaf. The Arizona native has broken boundaries in the entertainment world, becoming the first deaf man to win an Academy Award for acting this past year. His part as the character of Frank Rossi in the movie “CODA” is what earned Kostur the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Joining Kostur at the Super Bowl is two other deaf performers, as Colin Denny will perform “America the Beautiful” in ASL and Justina Miles will sign “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as well as the halftime show in ASL.
On February 12, 2023, Apple Music announced that singer and entrepreneur Rihanna will headline the inaugural Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show. The telecast will be produced by DPS with Roc Nation and Jesse Collins serving as executive producers, and Hamish Hamilton serving as director.
First entering the pop music scene in 2007 with her first album Music of the Sun, Rihanna has since dominated the industry, garnering 14 number-one Billboard songs from her eight albums. The Barbados native has sold over 200 million records and won eight Grammy awards. She has also proven to be a successful entrepreneur, launching her cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty in 2017 and clothing line Savage X Fenty in 2018.
Check out ProFootballTalk for more on the 2023 NFL Playoffs as well as game previews, picks, recaps, news, rumors and more.
It’s the San Francisco 49ers vs Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday, January 29 as the two teams go head-to-head in the NFC Championship game. Kickoff time is at 3:00 p.m. ET. See below for additional information on how to watch Sunday’s game.
The San Francisco 49ers look to win their first Lombardi Trophy since the 1994 season and they could likely do it with third string QB Brock Purdy, who will become the fifth rookie quarterback in NFL history to start a conference championship game this Sunday. Purdy, who was the very last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, moved up the depth chart after Trey Lance sustained a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2 and Jimmy Garoppolo broke his foot in Week 13.
RELATED: 49ers Super Bowl history – When is the last time San Francisco made it to, won the Super Bowl?
The 49ers pulled off a 19-12 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in last weekend’s divisional round marking the team’s 12th straight win. Additionally, this will be the third time in 4 years that San Francisco has reached the NFC Championship game. Purdy finished 19-of-29 for 214 yards in the win. RB Christian McCaffrey had 16 touches for 57 yards while TE George Kittle had five catches for 95 yards.
RELATED: Brock Purdy, Jalen Hurts met in a 2019 college football classic
The 49ers most recent Super Bowl appearance was in 2019 when they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 31-20.
RELATED: 2023 NFL Playoffs – What to know about SF QB Brock Purdy Ahead of NFC Championship game
The Philadelphia Eagles delivered a crushing 38-7 blow to the New York Giants last Saturday, clinching their first NFC Championship berth since 2017. QB Jalen Hurts, who has been nursing a right shoulder injury sustained in Week 15, finished 16-of-24 for 154 passing yards and two touchdowns in the win. After the game Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni compared Hurts’ impact to NBA legend Michael Jordan.
RELATED: Eagles Super Bowl history – When is the last time Philadelphia made it to, won the Super Bowl?
“To have him out there is like — I know this is high praise, but to have him out there is like having — I shouldn’t even go there — it’s like having Michael Jordan out there. He’s your leader. He’s your guy. Hopefully that’s the biggest respect I can pay to him comparing his ability to being on the field to a Michael Jordan type. This guy leads. He brings this calmness to the entire team. He plays great football. He’s as tough as they come. Yeah, I mean, to me, nobody has played any better football than him this year.”
The Eagles’ defense took care of business on Saturday with five sacks on Giants QB Daniel Jones improving to a total of 75 sacks in all regular and postseason games this season which is the third-most in NFL history.
The Eagles last Super Bowl appearance was in 2017 when they defeated the New England Patriots 41-33.
Kickoff is at 3:00 p.m. ET.
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