Oh, Say Can You See
Mary Ellen Talley lives in Washington
By Mary Ellen Talley
Before each Super Bowl, the prop bets
set odds how long the National Anthem
will run. Gladys Knight scored her song
at 1 min 47 sec in 2019, but Lady Gaga’s
rendition clocked in at 2 min 20 sec in 2016.
When Colin Kaepernick’s team
reached the Super Bowl in 2013, Alicia Keys sat
at a white grand piano in a blood red dress
to belt out her version for 2 min 40 sec
staged in the middle of a field in New Orleans.
Kaepernick took a knee before a football game
in 2016 to protest racial injustice
and police brutality. He lost his job.
In 2020, a man with a badge pressed his knee
on the neck of George Floyd for 8 min 46 sec.
Cell phone video shock. The National Anthem
went silent as protestors took to the streets.