In the media frenzy surrounding the Super Bowl, two Cinderellas have been thrust into a highly engineered waltz: Brock Purdy, the San Francisco 49ers star quarterback who ascended to the highest levels of football and shed his reputation as an irredeemable underdog, and Bark Purdy, a dog.
Bark, a Sacramento Chihuahua mix who the Sacramento SPCA says is 7 or 8 months old, competes next Sunday in Puppy Bowl XX, which airs for three hours on Animal Planet, Discovery and TruTV in the leadup to the actual sporting event. Brock, who the National Football League says is 24 , hopes to compete in the actual sporting event, Super Bowl LVIII.
Whether Brock heads to Las Vegas, Nevada on Feb. 11 depends on the Niners’ performance against the Detroit Lions this Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, but Bark is guaranteed play time that day. Kickoff Sunday is at 3:30 p.m. and is televised on Channel 40.
A fluff piece
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Michael Silver has called Brock “a remarkably accurate passer who processes quickly, has a knack for moving in the pocket and extending plays and is unflappable in the face of pressure .” Bark likes to nap. As a Chihuahua and a puppy, he is likely at the apogee of flappable.