Authenticity in A-Sharp: Super Bowl Halftime Show Only Disappointed a Few

The arrogance of the NFL is really spellbinding at times.

The suits of the shield had the audacity to tell Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre what to do in their halftime medley of hits that Dre produced. Forget the fact that these artists were doing the league a favor in keeping up appearances of being progressive and inclusive aside from the players. It didn’t matter because the shield always gets its way. They are undefeated, so why wouldn’t they ‘try-it’ and tell:

• Snoop Dogg to not wear a blue bandanna in his back pocket.

• Eminem not to kneel.

• Dre to scrub the “still not loving police” line out of “Still Dre”

It’s the NFL! It’s the Super Bowl! Surely they were going to comply, right?

But as everyone knows by now, all of that didn’t happen. The D-O-double-G wore an outfit that was basically a blue bandanna. Shady kneeled anyway, and Dre left the line in.

The defiance was just the cherry on the pie of what had a vocal minority triggered last night. To borrow a line from a friend of mine – last night’s abundance of melanin and culture had some folks big mad and they had no problems showing it on various timelines.

That’s amusing as well, because these people don’t have a problem watching sporting events where the players are predominantly black. That’s fine for them, but the halftime show is where they lose it? They called it ‘stupidity’ as the least offensive among the criticisms. To that, I say the stupidity lies within the people who didn’t have sense to change the channel for 45 minutes.

The show itself was amazing. One of the best halftime shows in recent years. However, it doesn’t negate the fact that it was just a demonstrative, glossy, smokescreen to divert attention from league’s ongoing issues. Snoop, Dre and company knew it when the league asked them to change for them. They wanted Snoop, Dre, Kendrick, Em, and Mary. They got exactly that! In their entirety.

Editor’s Note: According to ESPN the NFL denied reports that it was attempting to stop Eminem from making the gesture. “We watched all elements of the show during multiple rehearsals this week and were aware that Eminem was going to do that,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said.