FORT MYERS, Fla. – New England sports fans won’t be rewatching this year’s Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks any time soon.
Bad Bunny’s halftime show is the exception for Red Sox manager and fellow Puerto Rico native Alex Cora, who watched the historic performance for a second time on Monday.
“He’s developed into this icon, and he’s true to his roots,” Cora said. “I’m a proud Puerto Rican. I defend my island whenever I have a chance, and I talk about my island whenever I have a chance, but to do it in that stage, and what he did with every detail… I gotta be honest, this morning I watched it and there were tears.”
“It was amazing,” Cora added. “The guy was freaking outstanding.”
Bad Bunny wove together human rights, political issues, and history with joyful aspects of life in Puerto Rico, pan-Latin heritage and identity, and messages of unity. As of 10 p.m. ET Monday, the NFL’s Youtube video of the 13-minute set, which was performed almost entirely in Spanish, had over 44 million views.
“Everything in Spanish,” Cora said, “you gotta have big cojones to do that.”
The show began with a man dressed in white and wearing a pava, the straw hat of a farmer. Bad Bunny entered through a field of sugar cane and farmers at work, a football in the crook of his arm. He passed a stand selling fresh coconuts, one table where four older men played dominos, and another where one woman gave another a manicure. He stopped at one cart for a piragua (shaved ice), then a taco stand.
“Right away when they had the coconut stand, back home, they sell it on the corners,” Cora said. “I was like, ‘Oh shoot, this is gonna be great.’”
Bad Bunny ducked two sparring boxers. He handed a ring box to a real-life couple who had invited him to their wedding. They got engaged, and later married during the set, surrounded by the artist and whirling revelers.
Celebrities and dancers grooved on and in front of the porch of “La Casita,” a replica of a real, traditional Puerto Rican style house Bad Bunny previously featured in a short film, while he danced and rapped on the roof. Porches are essential to the social fabric of Puerto Rico; they serve as the gathering places for families, friends and neighbors.
The set sampled Daddy Yankees’ 2004 mega-hit “Gasolina,” and featured musical cameos from 90s Latin pop legend Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga.
Toward the end of the set, a cluster of electrical poles emitted showers of sparks and went dark. The dancers climbing them pantomimed falling and working their way back up, a reference to the island’s power grid issues following Hurricane Maria in 2017. Bad Bunny stood in the tall grass below, holding a Puerto Rican independence movement flag, before climbing an empty pole to a narrow platform, rapping all the while.
“The electric grid, all that stuff, that’s real for us,” Cora said, “And he wasn’t afraid of showing people how we’re living right now.”
The show ended with calls for unity. Bad Bunny shouted, “God bless America,” then marched forward, holding the football again. This time, he was not walking alone, but flanked by men and women carrying flags from every North, Central, and South American country. The video board behind him read, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
“Hopefully people don’t take it wrong, and this is something that I always tell the people, our (players): it’s the United States of America,” Cora said. “America is North America, Central America, South America. … I’m glad that he represented America the way he did. And then he said it, ‘My homeland, Puerto Rico.’ Oof, that was great.”
Bad Bunny rotated the football so the message emblazoned on it, “Together We Are America,” could be captured by the camera. He spiked it victoriously, then strode off the field.
The moment of triumph resonated deeply with Cora. In the weeks after Hurricane Maria’s devastation, he was negotiating with the Red Sox to become their 47th manager and first Latino manager. Cora, who also played for Boston from 2005-08, told the Red Sox he wanted them to aid in hurricane relief efforts, and they agreed.
In January 2018, Cora, a team contingent, and Boston Mayor Marty Wash flew to Puerto Rico to deliver 10 tons of medical supplies, water filtration systems, other necessities, and a monetary donation.
That October, Cora became the first Puerto Rican and second Latino to manage his team to a World Series championship. Five days after the clinching game, he and several players brought their gleaming new trophy to Cora’s hometown of Caguas for a triumphant, emotional celebration.
Those memories were at the forefront of his mind as he watched and rewatched Bad Bunny.
“That unique feeling, I saw it at the end, when he finished and he was singing and he took off the mic,” Cora said of the superstar’s exit from the field. “It was like, ‘Holy shoot, we just pulled this off.’ And it’s kind of like (winning the World Series) in ‘18, kind of like, ‘We did it, and let’s go home and celebrate.’”
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