The halftime show at Super Bowl LVI was highly anticipated, with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige bringing down the house at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Bengals kicker Evan McPherson, a breakout rookie star for the team last season, stayed on the field to watch the show.
Cameras caught McPherson on the bench, but the move wasn’t a huge surprise, as he mentioned that it was his hope to watch the show in interviews with Pardon My Take and TMZ. Even so, it was apparently not a very popular move for the Bengals staff.
“That’s a sore subject,” special teams coach Darrin Simmons said of McPherson's move, per The Athletic. “That’s a real sore subject.”
Simmons also had some critiques of McPherson’s play on the field, which was pretty stellar in 2021, as well, citing his need to improve on kickoffs and in practice.
“He needs to become a better practice kicker and kick better than he has,” Simmons said. “Not that it’s poor, but I think for him to be elite and go over the top, he’s got to kick better in practice and learn new things.”
McPherson hit 28-of-33 field goals and 46-of-48 extra points in the regular season, making 9-of-11 attempts from 50 or more yards. He was a perfect 14-of-14 in the playoffs, nailing all six extra point attempts in the postseason.
The Bengals fell to the Rams in last month’s Super Bowl, 23–20.
