The Long, Strange Relationship Between the Super Bowl and Hollywood

Deadly blimps and sniper fire, fictional teams in unfamiliar threads and second careers on the silver screen. As the NFL’s biggest spectacle returns to Los Angeles, a look at the ties between show business and The Big Game.

Deadly blimps and sniper fire, fictional teams in unfamiliar threads and second careers on the silver screen. As the NFL’s biggest spectacle returns to Los Angeles, a look at the ties between show business and The Big Game.

Illustration by The Sporting Press; Getty Images (Any Given Sunday); Everett Collection (Two-Minute Warning); LMPC/Getty Images (Black Sunday blimp); Warner Bros./Everett Collection (Goonies, The Blind Side); Warner Bros./Getty Images (Hooper, Police Academy 2); Mary Evans/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection (Heaven Can Wait); Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images (Black Sunday); Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports (SoFi sign); Bettmann/Getty Images (Namath); Ben Oldender/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images (jet pack)