NFL screenshot by Leslie Katz / CNET
Grammy nominees Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church sang the national anthem before Sunday Super Bowl, but many fans were busy paying attention to another participant in the anthem: American sign language interpreter Warren “Wawa” Snipe. A football fan himself, Snipe enthusiastically threw his whole body into playing The Star-Spangled Banner, smiling widely and almost dancing along with the words.
Snipe also performed the performance of the singer HER in America the Beautiful before the anthem.
“It has always been my dream to perform at the Super Bowl, and I would love to be able to present the halftime show at ASL too,” Snipe told CBS News before the game. He said he practiced studying how this year’s singers usually perform.
Snipe has a recurring role on the CW superhero program Black Lightning, and is himself a rapper and music artist. He calls his musical genre “dip hop”, which means “hip hop through deaf eyes”.
CBS cameras mainly focused on singers, with Snipe only occasionally appearing on the screen, which viewers noticed. Some viewers were disappointed to see him only in glimpses of the singers’ shoulders.
But the fans really enjoyed what they saw from their sincere work.
“I want to wake up every day and be as excited to go to work as the ASL interpreter at the Super Bowl,” wrote a Twitter user.
I want to wake up every day and be as excited to go to work as the ASL interpreter at #SuperBowl
– theophila💛 (@ imaGodg1rl) February 7, 2021
And some noticed that they really wanted to see more of Snipe.
“Dear CBS, having the sign language interpreter in a box on the screen during music for those at home would also make a lot of people happy,” one person tweeted.
expensive @CBS, having the sign language interpreter in a box on the screen during the singing for those at home would also make many individuals happy. 🙂 #SuperBowl #SuperBowlLV #ASL
– Jaye.✊🏾😷 (@ Jaye723) February 7, 2021
The performance of the National Anthem by the ASL interpreter must be included and visible to those watching at home.
– Barbara Tollison MAEd (@barbtheboss) February 7, 2021
I need a replay of beautiful America and the national anthem that only shows Wawa, the ASL interpreter
– claire (@ clairedelune108) February 7, 2021
According to CBS, the National Association of the Deaf announced that it would post full videos of Snipe’s work in the Super Bowl on YouTube, but they have not been posted yet.