On Sunday, February 7, 2016, the 17th Annual NFL Sanctioned Super Bowl Gospel Celebration (SBGC) aired on BET and Centric networks, taped before a live audience at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, CA on Friday, February 5, 2016. The annual event joins together key NFL Players, top Gospel/Contemporary Christian and mainstream Award-winning artists and special guests all on one stage to bring audiences a evening of uplifting music and inspirational messages. “The Real” co-host and singer Adrienne Bailon and “Mr. Robinson” actor Brandon T. Jackson hosted this year’s sold-out milestone event.
The performances were tops this year in every-way!
Adrienne Bailon and Brandon T. Jackson interacted with the audience with lighthearted moments, telling jokes, with Brandon attempting to sing and take the stage with a performance of his own. Adrienne watched on with amusement. Adrienne is a church girl and showed that she felt right at home with the spiritual movement in the auditorium.
The opening performance of the show was gospel musician Pastor Charles Jenkins who performed the number one gospel single of the year “War.” The song brought the crowd to their feet, which set the tone for the night. Gospel artist Jonathan McReynolds touched the soul of every audience member in attendance with his medley of ballad singles “The Way That You Love Me” and “Gotta Have You.” R&B/soul singer-song-writer Kem gave a soulful insightful performance of his inspirational song “Beautiful World.”
Watch a Jonathan deliver a soul stirring performance! Watch the below:
Season 9 winner of “The Voice” Jordan Smith gave a surprise of the night with his rendition of “His Eye Is On The Sparrow,” which brought audible praises of delight and enjoyment from the audience.
The audience favorite performance of the night came when The NFL Players Choir took to the stage to sing “I Will Bless The Lord.” The celebrated Choir features past and current NFL players including Bryan Scott, Tommie Harris, Orlick Johnson (OJ) and Terrence Stevens. Their stage stomping performance brought the audience to their feet and had them cheering in happiness as an expression of their faith.
In a very special and moving tribute, former Oakland Raiders player and new NFL Hall of Fame inductee Tim Brown, was presented with the “Lifetime of Inspiration Award.” He thanked Super Bowl Gospel Celebration for this very special honor, and talked about his life and career and how this past year has been a year of acceptance for him. He recounted how his greatest achievement in life was in 1996, on a special date and time when he was “saved.” Since then he has lived a life free of outside influences, he met his wife shortly after 1996, and has been married for 19 years. He said he feels incredibly blessed.
Anthony Hamilton had you calling out for the Lord! In my opinion he should be added to the hall of fame for the best gospel performances ever. He proved that singing gospel comes from a place of knowledge of the Lord and he summoned his spirit on that stage!
Tye Tribbett, Kierra Sheard, Canton Jones, and gospel musicians Charles Jenkins delivered wonderful performances too!
The NFL Sanctioned Super Bowl Gospel Celebration gives back to each Super Bowl host city. Since 2002, more than 5,500 tickets and donations have been given to worthy organizations including Special Olympics, Urban League, Project Wave, YET and other charities. This year, SBGC will donate funds to the NFL Player Care Foundation (PCF) which is an independent organization dedicated to helping retired players improve their quality of life