Beyond the Super Bowl: What We Ignore When the Lights Go Out

By Letitia Peyton and Alex Peyton

The Super Bowl is over. The confetti has settled, and the world has moved on. But behind the spectacle of athletic triumph and commercial glitz, there are darker realities that don’t disappear when the game ends.

This year’s Super Bowl, like every major sporting event, took place against a backdrop of issues that rarely make headlines: the hidden trauma of survivors in sports, the complicity of powerful institutions, and the human trafficking crisis that follows these massive events.

The Saints, the Church, and the Betrayal of Survivors

New Orleans is a city that wears its love for the Saints on its sleeve. But for many survivors, the team’s name has become a cruel irony.

Not long ago, court documents revealed that executives from the New Orleans Saints helped the Catholic Church manage its public response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. Instead of standing with victims, they worked behind the scenes to protect Archbishop Gregory Aymond. Instead of demanding justice, they helped craft a narrative to preserve institutional power.

For families like ours, this isn’t just a PR scandal—it’s deeply personal.

As the mother and brother of a clergy abuse survivor, we’ve seen firsthand the devastation caused when institutions close ranks to protect their own. The betrayal isn’t just legal or financial—it shatters faith, isolates victims, and deepens trauma.

When beloved sports franchises align with the cover-up of abuse, the message is clear: Power matters more than people.

The Athletes We Cheer For—And The Trauma Many Carry

Super Bowl Sunday celebrates elite athletes—men who have beaten the odds. But statistics tell us something uncomfortable: Some of the players on that field are likely survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys experience child sexual abuse, often between the ages of 7 and 13. Many survivors carry their trauma in silence for decades, including those who go on to become professional athletes.

The connection between sports and abuse isn’t theoretical. From gymnastics to football to youth leagues, institutional silence has allowed abusers to thrive. When the systems meant to protect children fail, survivors are left to navigate the consequences alone.

The Super Bowl and Human Trafficking: An Unspoken Crisis

Beyond the field, the Super Bowl has another grim reputation—it’s a hotspot for human trafficking.

Every year, law enforcement and advocacy groups report spikes in trafficking activity surrounding major sporting events. The demand for commercial sex increases, and among those exploited are children.

This isn’t a new problem, nor is it unique to the Super Bowl. Global sporting events—from the Olympics to the World Cup—routinely bring surges in human trafficking. Yet, despite the warnings from experts, the issue remains largely ignored by the institutions that profit from these events.

Where Do We Go From Here?

The truth is, the silence surrounding these issues is not accidental. It is a choice. A choice made by sports franchises, churches, corporations, and powerful institutions that prioritize reputation over responsibility.

But silence is complicity.

• Survivors deserve more than whispered apologies and legal maneuvers—they deserve justice.

• Institutions must prioritize transparency over PR. If they truly care about preventing harm, they must support survivor-led reforms.

• And as a society, we must ask ourselves: Would we accept this silence if it were our own child?

Now that the game is over and the world moves on, let’s not forget the stories that weren’t told on Super Bowl Sunday. Let’s refuse to let this cycle of complicity continue.

We owe survivors more than our outrage in the moment. We owe them our action—long after the lights of the stadium go out.

About the Authors

Letitia Peyton is the Executive Director of TentMakers of Louisiana and co-host of the Resilience in the Shadows podcast. She has testified before the Louisiana State Legislature in support of survivor rights and served on the Study Commission on Deterring Sex Offenses Against Children Task Force. She is also the mother of a clergy abuse survivor.

Alex Peyton is the Director of the Resilience in the Shadows Podcast, an Advisory Board Member for TentMakers of Louisiana, and the brother of a survivor. His advocacy focuses on raising awareness of the long-term impact of clergy sexual abuse on survivors and their families.

Closeup of a sculpture of Themis, mythological Greek goddess, symbol of justice, blind and holding empty balance in her hand