Sportshour at the Super Bowl
This week’s Sportshour focuses on Super Bowl LV between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The BBC’s Blaire Toedte is on the ground in Florida for us as the Bucs aim to make history by becoming the first team to win a Super Bowl in their home stadium. Seven and a half thousand vaccinated health care workers have been gifted tickets for the game as a thank you for their work during the covid pandemic. RJ Gardner is an ICU nurse with Aya Healthcare and tells us about running a covid ward in New Jersey at the start of the pandemic and the pressures involved with his current role in Atlanta. He discusses losing a patient he got close to, being away from his family and his shock at being told he’d be going to the Super Bowl. Brad Johnson was Tampa Bay’s quarterback when they won their first and up to now only Super Bowl in in 2003. He tells us the Bucs were known as “the yuks” when he joined the team, such was their lowly reputation. Johnson also reflects on winning the Super Bowl and gives us his thoughts on Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. The Mayor of Tampa, Jane Castor tells us how she’s been confident from the outset that the Bucs would win the Super Bowl, discusses rumours the city could be renamed in Tom Brady’s honour and tells us about a bet she has on the game with the Mayor of Kansas City. John Biever will make history on Sunday as he becomes the only photographer to have worked at every Super Bowl. He recalls shooting his first, alongside his father, as a fifteen year old and how they worked together at the first thirty five Super Bowls before ill health and age forced his father to stop. He also talks about the importance of keeping his streak going and why he has a soft spot for the Kansas City Chiefs going into this game. We hear from Bucs assistant defensive line coach, Lori Locust. She made history when she joined the team as she became the first woman position coach in the NFL and is part of a diverse coaching staff at the organisation. Jay Ajayi also gives us his thoughts on diversity in the NFL. Ajayi won the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018. He was born in London and has Nigerian heritage. The NFL is the focus for Sporting Witness on this Super Bowl weekend as we bring you the story behind a landmark policy for diversity in sport. It's called the Rooney Rule and it was introduced by the NFL to require its teams to interview minority candidates for jobs as head coaches. And – we’re joined live by fans of the Bucs and the Chiefs. Photo: Tom Brad of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Getty Images)