Why do Super Bowl MVPs go to Disney? When did the tradition start? 

You have probably seen the clips on ESPN or on Instagram or X over the last day. The Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III and his quarterback Sam Darnold are down in Disneyland celebrating their Super Bowl LX win over the New England Patriots.

The origins of an NFL tradition

After every Super Bowl, cameras surround the winning team, and one of those cameras has a special task of finding the Super Bowl MVP and asking him one question. The question: “You just won the Super Bowl, what are you going to do next?”

It’s a tradition that has become synonymous with the post game celebration on Super Sunday, but where did it come from? When did it start?

The first player to say it was former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms back in 1987. He led his team to a win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI, and won the MVP honors along the way. As he was celebrating, a camera crew went up to him and asked him the famous question, which he answered “I’m going to Disney World!”

The clip wasn’t aired live. Instead it was aired the next day in a commercial that promoted the Disney Theme Parks and history was made. Since then it has been a regular occurrence in the postgame festivities.

The story originates just a few weeks before that Super Bowl in 1987. The CEO of Disney, Michael Eisner and wife Jane Breckinridge were hosting a dinner that included George Lucas among other celebrities and two pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager who had just made the first nonstop flight (Voyager) around the world on a single tank of gas.

Simms started it

Breckinridge asked the pilots what they were going to do to celebrate this incredible feat, and they answered, “Well, we´re going to Disneyland.” According to Eisner, it was Breckinridge who suggested to her husband that the phrase would make a great advertising campaign.

It didn’t take too long before Disney put the wheels in motion and just a few weeks later, Phil Simms was the first one to debut the famous slogan as the confetti fell on the New York Giants following Super Bowl XXI. Sims said he was paid $50,000 to say “I’m going to Disney World” along with an all expenses paid all-day experience at the Magic Kingdom.

Since then, almost every Super Bowl MVP has been to either Disney World or Disneyland since 1987. In 2005, there was no commercial and Dieon Branch did not say the famous slogan after the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski were the only players since that didn’t make the trip because the parade was canceled due to COVID-19.

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