For 13 minutes on Sunday, a multi-million dollar concert featuring a 20-time Grammy winner will be held in the same building as the Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl matchup.

And the teams can’t watch a second of it.

Such has become the paradox of the Super Bowl halftime show, a performance marking the biggest day of the year in American sports and reveling in grandiosity like the United States often does.

But while Patrick Mahomes, Saquon Barkley and Travis Kelce will draw millions of eyeballs to FOX on Sunday evening, they’ll be unable to enjoy the live music of Kendrick Lamar and SZA.

That is, unless they are especially bold.

It was three years ago when Bengals kicker Evan McPherson and long snapper Clark Harris dared to stay on the field during halftime as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige and Lamar (then in a more supporting role) took to the stage at the break of Super Bowl LVI against the Rams.

Kendrick Lamar is set to perform at halftime of the Super Bowl this weekend alongside SZA

Patrick Mahomes has been asked about Lamar this week, but he of course has another focus

Usher took the stage during last year’s Super Bowl between the Chiefs and 49ers in Vegas

The move – which came before Cincinnati lost 23-20 – drew the ire of special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons, and Eagles punter Braden Mann won’t be recreating the stunt. 

‘I don’t think I’m gonna find out,’ he exclusively told Mail Sport on Super Bowl Opening Night, when asked what his coaches’ reaction would be to him staying on the field. ‘I’m gonna be in the locker room for that one.’

Cornerback Kelee Ringo shared a similar sentiment.

‘I don’t even have words for anything like that,’ he said after being told of McPherson and Clark’s actions. ‘I don’t even know. Like honestly, anything that’s said after that, you have to expect that. Like that’s just diabolical to me. That makes no sense to me.’

While Super Bowl halftime shows have been staged since 1967 – and the likes of Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince have graced the stage – few performers have had the sort of real-time cultural relevance that Lamar will bring on Sunday.

The rapper is fresh off of winning another five Grammys last week, and his Drake diss ‘Not Like Us’ remains a viral earworm to this day.

It’s a big show to miss as far as halftime shows are concerned.

Players have been peppered all week with questions about Lamar, his forthcoming performance and his beef with Drake.

Performing the halftime show is considered a huge honor – Madonna is seen onstage in 2012

.@McPherson_Evan is living his best life.@Bengals | #SBLVI pic.twitter.com/YMo9aE4p5z

— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) February 14, 2022

Philadelphia’s Kelee Ringo (center left, in sunglᴀsses) won’t be recreating Evan McPherson’s stunt

Mahomes said he was a fan of Lamar’s latest album, GNX, while Kelce at one point during Opening Night  struggled to name his favorite song by the halftime performers when prompted.

Eagles center Cam Jurgens was even asked to ‘blind rank’ five Lamar’s songs by one reporter on Monday night.

But the all of that is secondary to the teams’ ultimate goal. 

‘I’ve loved Kendrick’s music for a while. I’m also a fan of SZA too,’ said defensive end Thomas Booker IV.

‘But you know, we came here for one reason and one reason only, to leave this with the W. So let’s focus on that.’

Receiver Jahan Dotson, meanwhile, admitted it’d be ‘pretty cool’ to enjoy a free concert, but his focus is the same as Booker’s.

‘It kind of goes back to the subject of no distractions – kind of can be a distraction to anyone who lets it be,’ Dotson said. ‘But we’re here to win a football game.’

Of course, while the Eagles and Chiefs are in the Big Easy to try and seize the Super Bowl, the scale of Lamar’s performance should not be minimized.

According to Forbes, Maroon 5’s halftime show in 2019 had an estimated cost as high as $10million, while the league has partnered with Jay Z’s Roc Nation since that same year to produce the show.

And the honor and exposure that come with doing the halftime show means that performers are famously not paid for the gig.

The hype around Lamar is huge after he collected another five Grammy awards last week

Whether Lamar opens up with ‘Not Like Us,’ ‘Swimming Pools’ or ‘DNA’ is irrelevant to the Eagles and Chiefs players, though the extended halftime break does add another wrinkle to the game.

Read More How much will Kendrick Lamar be paid for Super Bowl halftime show? What to know about his set

Halftime typically lasts just 12 or 13 minutes for regular season and even non-Super Bowl playoff games.

But with the championship game’s extravagant  halftime performance, the gap between the second and third quarter can sometimes stretch to as long as 30 minutes in duration.  

‘It’s definitely a bit of a different dynamic compared to a regular game or even in the playoffs,’ Booker IV said. ‘So we have a plan in place. You know, we trust our strength and conditioning staff to get us ready.’

Sunday night will be a huge evening for all of Lamar, the Eagles and the Chiefs. Philly will be hoping to prevent Kansas City from earning a historic three-peat, while the rapper will look to continue his momentum with a show-stopping performance at the Superdome.

‘I wake up every day and I’m like, ‘This is crazy,’ Lamar said at a press conference ahead of the game.

‘Not crazy from a standpoint of being a celebrity, crazy. Just life. It’s just wow.’

Plenty of eyeballs will be on the teams too. But barring any last-minute defiance, there’s won’t be on Lamar’s.