Marked by Roman numerals, invested with historical significance and pumped up with national bombast, the Super Bowl is actually only 60 – or rather, LX – years old. And what started off as a rather modest affair – the first half-time show in 1967 was a display by the University of Arizona Symphonic Marching Band – has grown into one of the planet’s biggest sporting events, watched by a global audience of 125 million.

By any measure, it means something. And, of course, it means most to America. Very rarely does this diverse, divided and polyglot nation comes together as one, but, on Super Bowl Sunday, from sea to shining sea, Americans of all backgrounds, ethnicities and classes gather to watch 60 minutes of – to British eyes – impenetrable sporting action that is spread over more than four hours.

This year, however, it was much, much more than a game. Set against alienation and protest on America’s streets, it wasn’t just a moment when the nation switched off and united in a glorious irrelevance. It was a lightning rod in an increasingly polarised cultural landscape. And nothing represented this to a more devastating extent than the magnificently uplifting half-time performance of the Puerto Rican superstar........

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