By CHUCK POLLOCK, Senior Sports Columnist
About 12 years ago, when “prop bets” became a thing in the Super Bowl, I thought it would be fun to list about 30 of them in a column and encourage Olean Times Herald readers to cut it out, make copies and pass them around at their viewing parties with maybe a bit of legal tender at stake.
I tried not to rely too much on football questions but rather things non-fans could relate to: length of the national anthem, color of Gatorade the winning coach would be doused with, what songs would be performed at halftime etc.
Betting houses in Las Vegas would supply long lists and I’d pick the questions I preferred.
But this year was different, the betting sites supplied categories and I chose four of them: officiating, broadcast, Donald Trump and Taylor Swift.
In all I’ve listed 35 questions total from those four options.
And, oh yeah, at the end I offer my Super Bowl prediction:
OFFICIATING PROPS
1. How many challenges will there be by both teams?
Over/Under 1.5
2. How many successful challenges will there be both teams?
Over/Under 1
3. Will any touchdown be overturned by replay?
Yes or No
4. Will there be a penalty for excessive celebration?
Yes or No
5. How many accepted penalties will there be by both teams?
Over/Under 10.5
6. How many first downs by penalty will occur?
Over/Under 5
7. What will be the combined total of penalty yards?
Over/Under 59.5
8. How many first down measurements will occur?
Over/Under 0.5
9. Which team will have most personal foul penalties called against?
Chiefs or Eagles
10. Which team will be penalized for roughing the passer first?
Chiefs or Eagles
DONALD TRUMP PROPS
1. How many times will Trump be shown live during Super Bowl?
Over/Under 2
2. Will Trump wave the first time he is shown?
Yes or No
3. Will Trump tweet during the Super Bowl?
Yes or No
4. Will Trump congratulate winning coach/team?
Yes or No
5. Which will be higher?
Donald Trump Age (78) or AJ Brown Receiving Yards
6. Which will be higher?
Trump Electoral College Votes (312) or Mahomes Passing + Rushing Yards
7. Will any commercial make a joke about or reference Donald Trump?
Yes or No
8. Who will be first to post on social media after the game?
Taylor Swift or Donald Trump
BROADCAST PROPS
1. Will Tom Brady criticize the refs/officiating?
Yes or No
2. Will Kevin Burkhardt or Tom Brady mention the odds?
Yes or No
3. How many times will Jason Kelce be shown?
Over/Under 2.5
4. How many times will Donna Kelce be shown?
Over/Under 1.5
5. Which team’s local delicacy will be said or shown first?
Chiefs (KC BBQ) or Eagles (Philly Cheesesteak)
6. Which head coach will be shown first during broadcast?
Andy Reid (Chiefs) or Nick Sirianni (Eagles)
7. Which coordinator will be shown first?
Kellen Moore, Steve Spagnuolo, Matt Nagy or Vic Fangi
8. Which owner will be shown first?
Clark Hunt (Chiefs) or Jeffrey Lurie (Eagles)
9. Who will be shown first?
Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Archie Manning, Arch Manning
10. How many times will Roger Goodell be shown?
Over/Under 1.5
TAYLOR SWIFT PROPS
1. Will Travis Kelce propose to Taylor Swift after the game?
Yes or No
2. How many times will we see Taylor Swift on screen after kickoff to the end of the game?
Over/under 5
3. Will Taylor Swift appear with Kendrick Lamar during his halftime show?
Yes or No
4. Who will Taylor Swift be sitting next to?
Blake Lively, Brittany Mahomes or Donna Kelce
5. Will the Super Bowl MVP mention Taylor Swift in his speech?
Yes or No
6. Will we see a touchdown or a live shot of Taylor Swift first?
Yes or No
7. Will we see Taylor Swift or Jason Kelce more?
Swift or Kelce
POLLOCK’S PICK: I don’t have a dog in the fight and I don’t care who wins, but I do know Kansas City knocked Buffalo from the playoffs three of the past four years.
Chiefs 23, Eagles 20
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun and Olean Star senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
