The 2023 Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs football teams is the most/one of the most-watched sporting events ever! While the athletes and Rihanna were the stars of the show, the ASL interpreters went viral!
Three interpreters performed throughout the day.
Colin Denny, a deaf Native American from Arizona’s Navajo Nation, interpreted Babyface’s performance of “America the Beautiful.” Oscar winner Troy Kotsur interpreted the National Anthem performance with Chris Stapleton. Justina Miles, a Deaflympics champion, interpreted Rihanna’s halftime show.
Each of these interpreters are winners in their field!
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Denny is an Arizona native. He used a blend of ASL and North American Indian Sign Language, according to NAD. He is currently a research assistant studying North American Indian Sign Language at the University of Arizona.
Kotsur won an Oscar for best-supporting actor in the 2021 film “Coda,” making him the first Deaf man to take home an Oscar. He is also an Arizona native. Kostur told Variety it was an honor to perform at the game in his hometown.
Miles, who has a viral TikTok following, is known for her interpretations of popular music. She won a silver medal in the Deaflympics on Team USA’s 4×100 relay team. She studies nursing at Bowie State University, an HBCU in Maryland.
Full versions of the interpreters’ performances were live-streamed by Fox on YouTube during the game. But, fans and members of the Deaf community asked for more, urging the NFL to use picture-in-picture so the interpreters could be seen for the entire performance. National Association for the Deaf Chief Executive Officer Howard Rosenblum said he is proud of the collaboration with the NFL, and they will continue to look for ways to improve.
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