Super Bowl viewers have praised the sign language interpreter for the ‘beautiful job’ he did signing the National Anthem, with viewers saying he ‘killed it’.
The annual event saw the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35, while Rihanna stunned the audience and viewers at home with a suitably epic halftime show performance.
But before all that, things kicked off with a rendition of the National Anthem by country music singer Chris Stapleton, with Oscar-winner Troy Kotsur delivering sign language of the song pitchside.
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Arizona native Kotsur, 54, won the Best Supporting Oscar in 2021 for his turn as Frank Rossi in Coda, becoming the first deaf man win an Academy Award.
He has now also been widely celebrated for his work at the Super Bowl, performing the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ in American Sign Language.
One person tweeted: “THE KING HIMSELF TROY KOTSUR??? WHATTTT?? HIS SIGNING WAS SO BEAUTIFUL!”
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Someone else agreed: “Academy Award winner, Mesa native #TroyKotsur did a beautiful job signing the National Anthem.”
Another said Kotsur was the ‘MVP’ of the Super Bowl, while a fourth added: “Troy Kotsur doing the ASL interpretation of the anthem? That’s cool as hell.”
Coda filmmaker Sian Heder also praised her former star, writing: “@TroyKotsur absolutely killed it with his #ASL performance of the national anthem alongside @ChrisStapleton at the #SuperBowl. Everyone needs to see this!”
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However, some people watching at home felt frustrated that they weren’t able to see the performance in its entirety, due to cameras cutting to different action.
“YOURE TELLING ME YOU SCORE TROY KOTSUR TO SIGN THE NATIONAL ANTHEM AND YOU ONLY CUT TO HIM ONCE???” one fumed.
While someone else said: “Horrible coverage of the National Anthem by Fox. They couldn't have had a dedicated camera on #TroyKotsur in a box in the corner rather than just 2 seconds of him? So disappointing.”
Ahead of the Super Bowl, Kotsur said he felt ‘honoured’ to be signing the anthem for the event, which is one of the biggest fixtures of the international sporting calendar.
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"The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) invited me here and it's so great to see this diversity representing different types of deaf communities," he said during a press conference.
"When they asked me, ‘Hey Troy, would you mind signing the national anthem at the Super Bowl?' I said, ‘Yeah, sure. I'm in.'"
Kotsur said he would be channeling Francis Scott Key, the writer of the national anthem, during his performance at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona – around 27 miles away from Mesa, where he was born and raised.
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"He actually witnessed what happened during the Revolutionary War and seeing that the flag was still there, and the smoke and the fire and even through it all, the flag had remained," he continued.
“I'm becoming Francis and put myself in his shoes and tell it from his perspective."
Kotsur added: "I'm going to show you all what I'm seeing and what he wrote, which was pure poetry.
"I'm going to add in my personality as an artist, and put it all out there to show you all my work."
Topics: Sport, TV and Film, Celebrity, Super Bowl
Jess Hardiman