Super Bowl: Filipino/American football player puts himself in the record books.

Watch Jordan Norwood's record punt return.

Jordan Norwood

A FILIPINO/AMERICAN put his name in the Super Bowl record books. Jordan Norwood of the Denver Broncos returned a punt 61 yards, the longest punt return in Super Bowl history.

He caught the ball surrounded by Panther defenders but apparently, they thought he signaled for a fair catch and didn't tackle him as soon as he caught the ball. Somehow, he eluded the would-be tacklers and ran to the opposite side of the field and down the sideline.

His run set up a successful field goal by field goal kicker Brandon McManus to put the Broncos ahead 13-7 at halftime.

The Hawaii-born Norwood's mother is a Filipina/American. His brother is one of the stars in the  professional basketball in the Philippines.

Oh - by the way - the Broncos upset the favored Panthers, 24-10 in what may be the 40-year old quarterback Eli Payton Manning's last game.

The highlight of the much-anticipated half-time show was the sizzling dance off between Beyonce's army of black-clad dancers vs. Bruno Mars black leather-wearing male crew. 

Fireworks introduced Mars and he started singing his Grammy-award winning dance favorite "Uptown Funk" highlighted by his signature dance moves. Right away, the burst of energy picked up the tone of the performance started by Cold Play's frontman Chris Martin, who inexplicably had mike troubles making most of his lyrics inaudible. 

Then the camera was on Beyonce, wearing two bandolier-looking bands across her chest, and her militant-looking dancers. She sang her new ode to feminism and race relations "Formation," which was released a day before. 

The sexy, tension-building aggressive dancing had me cheering as the camera switched back and forth between the Beyonce dancers and the Filipino/American entertainer's Hooligans. To say the two R&B stars stole the show would be an understatement.

Beyonce and Bruno Mars heated up the stage during the Super Bowl's halftime show.

Afterwards, there was much discussion about the outfits worn by Beyonce and her dancers. She was either paying homage to Michael Jackson, who wore eerily similar costume when he headlined the Super Bowl halftime show; or it was a tribute to the Black Panthers, who were headquartered in Oakland a few miles north of the stadiium because the black berets and leather jackets became their trademark look.

What did it all mean? The colors and the final message put forth by the card-carrying audience the stands, "Believe in Love," made others believe that it was honoring the rainbow flag of the LGBTQ community, which is very influential in the Bay Area political scene.

Who knows? Great art is open to interpretation by the viewer. Entertaining halftime show, nevertheless. All I know, someone has to figure out how to get Bruno Mars and Beyonce back together again.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier versions of this post didn't have comments about the meaning of Beyonce's performance.

For more news about Asians/Americans and Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.

Super Bowl: The AAPI players on the Broncos; Bruno Mars joins half-time show

Filipino/American Jordan Norwood has the potential to become the unheralded hero of the Super Bow.

IF YOU'RE sentient, you must know that the Super Bowl is being played Sunday (Feb. 7) in Santa Clara, Calif. about 40 miles south of San Francisco. If you follow football, you've probably picked a team to cheer for, either the Carolina Panthers or the Denver Broncos.

If you haven't, maybe you'll watch the game for the commercials or the half-time show. Here's a few things that might pique your interest about the huge sporting event.

The Denver Broncos wide receiver Jordan Norwood, is a Filipino/American whose family originally hailed from Honolulu, Hawaii.

His 6'5" older brother, Gabe Norwood, is one of the stars of the Philippines'  professional basketball league. He plays center for Gilas Filipinas.

Jordan Norwood, though only 5'10," has been a solid contributor for the Denver offense, hauling in 25 catches for 233 yards, and has been a huge special teams asset as a sure-handed and slippery punt returner. 

Shiloh Ke'o and his father Regan.

Hawaiian-born safety Shiloh Ke'o wasn't signed until mid-season because the Broncos had a spate of injuries of players in that position. To top it off, he hadn't played for two years and was preparing for a career change when he got the call from the Broncos after a series of injuries had slowed him down. Despite his late arrival, he's contributed heavily to the team's success.

RELATED: Samoan's 'In Football We Trust'

Ke-o's interception and 22-yard return against the Chargers 
helped set up the touchdown that won the game.

Be sure to stick around for the half-time show, which promises to be spectacular, with Filipino/American pop singer Bruno Mars joining rockers Cold Play and super star Beyonce.

RELATED: Bruno Mars asked to perform at Super Bowl 50's half-time

Mars was reportedly asked early to headline the show but somewhere along the line, Cold Play got the headline spot. It was long rumored that Mars would join the show but it wasn't until this weekend was his participation confirmed on the singer's Instagram account with a picture of Mars during rehearsals wearing Oakland Athletics shirt and cap.

"It ain't a party if Mr $how Up & $how out doesn't show up", Mars said in a caption loaded with Super Bowl-related hashtags.

This isn't the first time Mars played at half-time.  He did a scintillating set for the event two years ago and - up until then - he played to the largest Super Bowl audience until he was dethroned from that distinction by Katy Perry last year.

Bruno Mars was at Levi Stadium rehearsing for the Super Bowl's halftime extravaganza.

The Super Bowl 50 game will kick-off on CBS, 6:30 p.m.(Eastern), Jan. 7 matching the Denver Broncos vs. the favored Carolina Panthers.