After becoming the first sitting President to attend a Super Bowl, Donald Trump has thoughts and opinions on the way the game played out.
Super Bowl LIX ended with a rout by the Philadelphia Eagles – who easily defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in a game that was much more lopsided than the scoreline suggests.
Trump watched on for only about a half before departing the Caesars Superdome on Sunday night and sent some thoughts out on Truth Social after the game had concluded.
In particular, Trump made it clear that he was not a fan of the NFL’s new kickoff system that was implemented for this season.
‘The worst part of the Super Bowl, by far, was watching the Kickoff where, as the ball is sailing through the air, the entire field is frozen, stiff,’ Trump posted on Sunday evening. ‘College Football does not do it, and won’t! Whose idea was it to ruin the Game?’
The NFL’s Compeтιтion Committee implemented the rule this season in an effort to slow the momentum of the kicking team before they collide with the receiving team.
President Donald Trump voiced his displeasure with the new NFL kickoff rules once again
As seen above, the NFL has a different look to its kickoff system than in years past
Trump watched on as the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday
In years past, the teams would collide into each other at full speed – which often led to injuries to special teamers.
Nowadays, the kickoff teams face each other about five yards apart between the 35 and 30 yard lines of the receiving team. They can only then start blocking and running after the returner after the ball is caught.
According to the NFL’s operations website, the league implemented the rule ‘to address the lowest kickoff return rate in NFL history during the 2023 season and an unacceptable injury rate on kickoffs.’
The NFL’s Compeтιтion Committee only put the rule into place for this season and is subject to renewal in 2025.
This is not the first time the newly-elected President has gone off on the new kickoffs in the NFL.
Back in an appearance on the ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast right before the November elections – wherein the President said he would solve the PGA-LIV dispute in 15 minutes while also praising the impact of Caitlin Clark – Trump told hosts Jim Gray and Bill Belichick that he didn’t like the changes.
‘But I will tell you, I watch football now and I see that kick off, and it looks weird to me. That thing looks weird, coach,’ Trump said, speaking to Belichick.
‘I don’t know. I hope you like it, but I think it hurts the game. I think when you have something good, you don’t change it. I don’t see why it’s safer. Why is it safer? They’re still crashing.
President Trump watches on during Super Bowl LIX between the Chiefs and the Eagles
Trump took a sH๏τ at one of his most famous detractors, pop superstar Taylor Swift (center)
Read More Super Bowl’s insane security revealed as snipers watch on from roof
‘But if the Coach likes it, I’m okay with it. But boy, I looked at that a few weeks ago when I saw it for the first time. I said, “What the hell are they doing to football?”‘
Of course, this was not the only Truth Social post that the President made on Sunday evening. He decided to take a parting sH๏τ at one of his most famous detractors, pop star Taylor Swift.
‘The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift. She got BOOED out of the Stadium. MAGA is very unforgiving!,’ the President wrote.
Swift was, in fact, booed when her face was shown on the Superdome screen as she watched on from a suite.
Her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, had a rough night – only catching four of six targets for 39 yards on the night.
While Patrick Mahomes finished with more pᴀssing yards than Jalen Hurts, he was also sacked six times as Kansas City didn’t really manage to score until the final quarter.
Philadelphia won a second Super Bowl тιтle, and in the process they prevented Kansas City from becoming the first team in NFL history to complete a three-peat.