(Or five entirely arbitrary Palm Beach connections to the big game.)
1. Palm Beach County native Mike Morris will take the field this Sunday! The Seattle Seahawks defensive end (and former American Heritage Schools Palm Beach Campus star) is heading to his first Super Bowl.
2. Palm Beach has an official seahawk: the osprey. It is known to be very vocal, producing loud, high-pitched whistles. Sound familiar, fans at Lumen Field?
3. NFL owners’ meetings have famously been taking place in Palm Beach. Last year Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald expressed plans for this season’s Super Bowl lineup. Also on the docket? Banning the tush push. (It was tabled.)
4. Palm Beacher Robert Kraft bought the New England Patriots in 1994, anticipating today’s family-office rush into the $2 trillion sports ecosystem, with 25% of them already invested and 71% targeting major men’s leagues. Team ownership has become a serious long-term play!
5. Speaking of team ownership, Palm Beach families have ties to an outsized number of NFL dynasties, including the Johnsons (Jets), the Luries (Eagles), the Glazers (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), the Rosses (Miami Dolphins), the Teppers (Carolina Panthers), the Tisches (Giants), along with the Koch family’s minority stake in the same team, and the Rooneys (Steelers), the Wilfs (Vikings), and, of course, the Krafts (Patriots).