February 7, 2021: For the 1st time, an NFL team plays in the Super Bowl on its home field. This is never by design, even though the chance had nearly always been there:
* Up to this point, Miami had hosted 11 Super Bowls, and the Miami Dolphins had appeared in 5 -- but never in the same season.
* New Orleans hosted 10 times, but the New Orleans Saints never even reached the Playoffs until the season of Super Bowl XXII. They finally made it to Super Bowl XLIV, and won it -- in Miami.
* The Los Angeles Rams almost did it: They reached Super Bowl XIV, but that game was played at the Rose Bowl, not at their home field at the time, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Either Miami, New Orleans or the Los Angeles area hosted the 1st 7 Super Bowls, 14 of the 1st 15, and 19 of the 1st 24, but no home team played in one.
* The Dallas Cowboys played in 8 Super Bowls, winning 5, and one of the main reasons for building AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington, Texas was the hope that they could host a Super Bowl,. and play in it. They were awarded Super Bowl XLV, but they finished 6-10 that season.
The 2020 season was unlike any other in NFL history, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Having to play the early part of the season behind closed doors proved what had long been suggested: Between television revenue and merchandising, an NFL team could make a profit even if paying attendance was exactly zero. By the time of Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, restrictions had been lifted to the point where 24,835 fans were let in.
On March 20, 2020, in the first few days of the COVID shutdown, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were set to be the host team for the Super Bowl, signed a free agent to play quarterback for them: Tom Brady, who had led the New England Patriots to win 6 Super Bowls -- by any means possible, legitimate or otherwise. Brady told them to sign his favorite receiver, for Pats tight end Rob Gronkowski, and they did. Despite having won Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003, the Bucs were still one of the NFL's joke franchises, but Brady and Gronk were ready to lift them out of that.
Under head coach Bruce Arians, they went 11-5 in the regular season. They had to play 3 Playoff games on the road in order to reach a home Super Bowl, and won them all: They beat the Washington Football Team (in their Redskins-to-Commanders interregnum), 31-23 in Landover, Maryland; beat the New Orleans Saints, 30-20 at the Superdome; and beat the Green Bay Packers, 31-26 at Lambeau Field.
Their opponents would be the Kansas City Chiefs, the defending World Champions, who had beaten the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. Under head coach Andy Reid, and with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, they had the best record in the NFL, 14-2, losing only a home to the Las Vegas Raiders, and a meaningless regular-season finale, home to the Los Angeles Chargers. They had a bye in the Wild Card Round; beat the Cleveland Browns, 22-17 at home at Arrowhead Stadium in the Divisional Playoff; and beat the Buffalo Bills, 38-24 at Arrowhead in the AFC Championship Game.
As the defending Champions, the Chiefs were favored by 3 points. Sure enough, the Chiefs scored first, on a 49-yard field goal by Harrison Butker. But Brady marched the Bucs down the field, and threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Gronk, to give them a 7-3 lead as the 1st quarter ran out.
In the 2nd quarter, Brady threw 2 more touchdown passes, for 17 yards to Gronk and 1 to Antonio Brown. In between, Butker kicked another field goal, but it was 21-6 Tampa Bay at the half, and the Chiefs never seriously threatened again.
Butker and the Bucs' Ryan Succop each kicked a 52-yard field goal in the 3rd quarter. In between, Leonard Fournette scored on a 27-yard touchdown run. It was 31-6 Buccaneers at the end of the 3rd quarter. There was no scoring in the 4th. The Bucs had their 2nd Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Brady had his 7th -- his 1st without Bill Belichick as his head coach. Most people who had not yet been calling Brady the greatest quarterback ever -- ignoring his proven cheating -- pretty much joined the people who had been calling him that in now calling him the greatest player ever, regardless of position. Having previously honored him as such in 2005, Sports Illustrated named Brady their Sportsperson of the Year for 2021. The only other 2-time winners have been Tiger Woods and, with 3, LeBron James.
The Tampa Bay Lightning had won the Stanley Cup on September 28, 2020, those Playoffs delayed by the COVID pandemic. They repeated on July 7, 2021. Therefore, from February 7, 2021 to February 13, 2022, a little over 1 full year, 371 days, the Tampa Bay region held the World Championships of both football and hockey.
In addition, the Tampa Bay Rays had won the 2020 American League Pennant, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies won the 2021 United Soccer League title. People in the Tampa Bay region claimed a title that had been used by other cities in the past: "City of Champions." It didn't work: The USL is the 2nd tier of North American soccer, the Rays lost the World Series, and the Bucs' Super Bowl and the Bolts' Cups were won under unusual conditions.
After all, from May 16, 1980 to January 25, 1981, Philadelphia made it to the Finals of all of the "Big Four" sports, but won only one, the World Series. While, from October 28, 1981 to June 8, 1982, Los Angeles won the NBA Championship legitimately after winning the World Series in a strike-shortened season. Neither city's fans then claimed the "City of Champions" mantle. And when the Oakland Athletics won the 1989 World Series by beating the San Francisco Giants, in between back-to-back Super Bowl wins by the San Francisco 49ers, the San Francisco Bay Area as a whole didn't claim it. So Tampa Bay was on shaky ground claiming it.
The year after this Super Bowl, the Los Angeles Rams were both the host team and the NFC Champions, and won Super Bowl LVI, beating the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
UPDATE: The Buccaneers have a Ring of Honor. From their founding era, including their trip to the 1979 NFC Championship Game, they have honored quarterback Doug Williams, tight end Jimmie Giles, defensive end Lee Roy Selmon and head coach John McKay.
From their Super Bowl XXXVII winners, they have honored running back Mike Alstott, defensive tackle Warren Sapp, defensive end Simeon Rice, linebacker Derrick Brooks, cornerback Ronde Barber, safety John Lynch, head coach Jon Gruden, defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, and owner Malcolm Glazer.
From between those eras, they have honored head coach Tony Dungy and offensive tackle Paul Gruber. From their Super Bowl LV winners, so far, they have honored only head coach Bruce Arians.
The Florida Sports Hall of Fame has inducted Selmon, Brooks, Dungy, Gruden, founding owner Hugh Culverhouse, 1990s running back Warrick Dunn, and the team's 1st starting quarterback, Steve Spurrier, although that's more for his playing and coaching at the University of Florida.
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February 7, 2021, like all Super Bowl days, was a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. There were 5 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Miami Heat, 109-103 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Washington Wizards, 119-97 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
* The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers, 103-95 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Boston Celtics, 100-91 at the Phoenix Suns Arena. (It was in between naming-rights contracts. It was soon renamed the Footprint Center, now the Mortgage Matchup Center.)
* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 113-110 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles, which was also the home of an NHL team named the Kings.
And there were 5 games in the NHL:
* The Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.
* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa. This game faced off at 7:00 PM, and ended at 9:21, so it was played during the Super Bowl. I can find no reference as to attendance, COVID-affected or otherwise.
* The Florida Panthers beat the Nashville Predators, 2-1 at the BB&T Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.
* The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2 at the T-Mobile Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.
* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks, 5-4 in a shootout at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
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