Feb. 4, 2022 – On Feb. 13, 2022, the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams will battle on the gridiron in Super Bowl LVI. The 2022 NFL Playoff games may go down in NFL history as the greatest games ever played. All went down to the wire with a last second field goal deciding the games. The Buffalo Bills lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime when Kansas City won the coin toss and scored a touchdown on the first possession to win the game. Many people are calling for the NFL to change their overtime rules. Super Bowl LVI will be played in Los Angeles so the Rams will have the home field advantage. If the game is as exciting as the Playoffs, millions of football fans around the world are in for a thrilling Sunday!

The following is the 2021 Redwood Learn story about Super Bow LV:

Feb. 5, 2021 – Ada, Ohio, a small town in northwest Ohio, could just as easily be called Small Town, USA or better yet, Football Town, USA. This Sunday during Super Bowl LV when the camera zooms in on the football, think of Ada.

Wilson Sporting Goods in Ada – only football factory in the world
Every football snapped, handed off, passed, kicked or fumbled at every Super Bowl was made by hand at the Wilson Sporting Goods football factory in Ada, the only dedicated football factory left in the world.

That is 55 years of turning out top quality, ‘Made in America’ footballs for the game now watched by about one-third of the population in the United States and millions more around the world.

Wilson is the exclusive football vendor for the NFL and has been since 1941. So every football at every NFL game played since 1941 was also made in Ada. But Wilson also makes hundreds of thousands of footballs for teams in the NCAA and high school teams. That volume of work keeps the factory buzzing with activity all year.

Wilson Tour:  How a football is made by man and machine
In 2015, Redwood Learn toured the Wilson factory. At the Ada factory, the harmonic hum of machines signifies just a normal day at the factory. As footballs reached the end of the production line to be hand laced and then inflated before being inspected, it’s clear the factory is a special place. It’s the ony factory in the world stamping the silver Super Bowl XLIV logo on footballs.

Footballs begin as sheets of cowhide, real leather. Large sheets of tanned and treated cowhide arrive at the factory from a company in Chicago that also has a long history with the NFL. The cowhide is the raw material that will be made into footballs. It’s not pigskin but the hide of a cow. Footballs are called “pigskin” because in the early days of the game, a pig’s bladder was inserted inside the football to give the ball its shape. Today, a football’s bladder is made of synthetic material. But the ball is still called a “pigskin.”

The first stop for the sheets of cowhide is the stamping machine where a metal die cuts individual panels in the shape of a football. Stacks of these panels are then taken to large industrial sewing machines. The panels are then sewn together by an expert sewer.

Angela has been working at Wilson for 20 years. In one continuous motion, she guided the panels through the machine sewing the panels with a Lock-Stitch. It’s a type of a stitch that is so tight that if one stitch comes loose, it will not affect the integrity of the football. As the football began to take shape, Angela had a smile on her face. “I love it,” she said. “It’s a great job.”

Behind Angela, Amber sat at another large industrial sewing machine. Also in continuous motion, Amber sewed two sets of panels into one football of four panels. At this point in the production process, the football is inside out so the panels are white.

After steaming to soften the panels, the football is turned right side out using a large pole. This part of the process needs muscles instead of a machine.

A synthetic bladder is then inserted and the football is ready to be laced – by hand. Dexterity is certainly required for this job. Melissa has worked at Wilson for seven years, two years as a lacer. Lacing is the final step to close the ball.

From the lacing station, footballs are placed in metal canisters with an air hose inserted into the side of the ball. Air is pumped into the ball to a pressure of 120 PSI (pounds per square inch) and then taken down to 13 PSI, the pressure at which footballs are shipped.

After being inflated, footballs are tossed into a large basket and ready for inspection.

“It’s 100 percent inspected,” Greg Miller, Wilson plant comptroller, said.

It was just another day at the Wilson factory in Ada – a day producing the only ‘Made in America’ footballs – and by hand – at the only football factory in the world!

Super Bowl LV – Feb. 7, 2021

According to the NFL, Sunday’s Super Bowl game will have 25,000 fans in attendance, including 7,500 first line workers who are receiving free tickets. In addition, there will be 30,000 cutouts of fans to fill the stadium! Everyone has worked to keep life as normal as possible during this most abnormal time. Helmets off to fans, players and coaches everywhere!

UPDATE: (Feb. 8, 2021: 6:45 a.m. EST) – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Tom Brady as quarterback, defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, with Patrick Mahomes as quarterback, 31-9 in a game that surprised many people because it wasn’t an epic battle. The Chiefs did not score one touchdown. Tampa Bay dominated the field for the entire game. And Brady connected with wide receiver Ron “Gronk” Gronkowski for two touchdowns. The battle was really about the Chiefs trying to stop the epic pair of Brady and Gronk who played together for many years with the New England Patriots. Gronk has already announced he will be playing next season. And there is little doubt that Brady will be back on the field as well.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What material is used to make the outside of Super Bowl footballs?

2. How are the panels of the football put together?

3. How is a football laced up?

4. Why is the Wilson Sporting Goods factory in Ada, Ohio unique in the United States and the world?

INQUIRY QUESTIONS

1. When Wilson employees watch the Super Bowl, what emotion do you think they feel?

2. How does the factory produce Super Bowl footballs so quickly after the conference championships?

3. Why do procedures at the Wilson factory have to be so precise and consistent?

4. Visit the US Census to determine the population of the United States. If one-third of the U.S. population watches Sunday’s Super Bowl, how many people will be watching the game?