26 Newtown Students to Perform "America the Beautiful" Before Super Bowl XLVII
Unlike Danny Glover getting sunscreen in his eyes in Angels in the Outfield, there are sure to be real tears across the country before the Super Bowl next Sunday. USA Today Sports confirmed today that the NFL will fly 26 students from Sandy Hook Elementary School and their families to the Super Bowl where they will perform America the Beautiful during the Super Bowl Pregame Show before the national anthem. The gesture commemorates and honors the victims of the horrific mass shooting that left 26 students and faculty of S.H.E.S. in Newtown, Conn. dead. This moment before the Super Bowl is sure to be emotionally charged and a moving memorial. This beautiful gesture comes on the heels of a season where the entire league reached out to help the victims of this tragedy. Players throughout the league wore S.H.E.S. stickers on their helmets, wrote personal messages on their equipments, visited morning families, and hosted many families on the field to witness tens of thousands of people stand silently in a national show of support for a distraught community. While the media buzzes around the biggest sporting event in the world and you read articles about how much money major corporations spend on Super Bowl ads, take a minute to reflect on this pregame moment. Remember why sport exists. It is not about money, or winning, the reason we all love sport, especially the NFL, is because it can take us away from the hurt in our lives and reminds us we are not alone in times of hardship. [via USA Today Sports]
