When it comes to Super Bowl 58 this Sunday. The late baseball legend Yogi Berra sums it up, “It’s like deja-vu all over again.” Sunday’s big game will bring back memories of recent NFL postseasons.

The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will face each other Sunday in Las Vegas. In a rematch of Super Bowl 54 four years ago. 2024 is starting to have some similarities with 2020. With the same Super Bowl matchup that we had four years ago. This Super Bowl will feature several players that played in Super Bowl 54. America also faces a potential rematch of the 2020 presidential election this November. Hopefully we won’t have another global pandemic throwing a wrench into our lives. 

This NFL postseason may have given Cincinnati Bengals fans a sense of deja-vu. Through a team that won’t be in Sunday’s big game. The Detroit Lions’ playoff run had several similarities to the Bengals playoff run two years ago. These respective playoff runs resulted in the Bengals and Lions winning playoff games for the first time since 1991. Cincinnati area natives were also key contributors to these playoff runs.

Those players are Sam Hubbard for the Bengals and Derrick Barnes for the Lions. Hubbard is an alumnus of Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati. Barnes is an alumnus of Covington, KY’s Holy Cross High School. Barnes snagged an interception in Detroit’s NFC Divisional game. Clinching the Lions berth to the NFC Championship Game.

The Bengals and Lions have emerged from decades of playoff futility. Mixed with years when both endured losing seasons. To become something rarely associated with the NFL, Cinderella stories. Prompting Detroit and Cincinnati to celebrate in ways neither city experienced in a while. At least with their respective NFL franchises. 

The Bengals and Lions connect in a few admittedly random ways. Both franchises have roots in Ohio, the Detroit Lions were originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio. The Bengals first Super Bowl appearance in 1982 was at the Lions former home, the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, MI. In 2005, the Bengals clinched their first playoff berth since 1991 in Detroit. That season’s NFL Playoffs concluded with Super Bowl 40 at Ford Field in Detroit.

Sunday’s big game will feature several Cincinnati connections. The most prominent player in the game will be University of Cincinnati alum and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. For the casual football fans out there, you’ve likely heard of Travis’s girlfriend Taylor Swift. This will be Kelce’s fourth Super Bowl within the last five years. Travis and his brother Jason Kelce have been part of five of the last seven Super Bowl’s. With Jason Kelce and his Philadelphia Eagles teammates winning Super Bowl 52 in 2018.

Terry Killens provides another Cincinnati connection to this year’s Super Bowl. Killens is a Cincinnati native and Purcell Marian High School graduate. He will be one of the referees for Sunday’s game. Killens will be the first person to play in a Super Bowl and officiate another. He was part of the Tennessee Titans when they appeared in Super Bowl 34. Off of the field, the Bengals will have a presence in Sunday’s Super Bowl. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will appear in a BodyArmor sports drink advertisement.

Shifting away from the Cincinnati area connections. Music plays a big part in the Super Bowl. From the halftime show to renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” To the occasional cut away to Taylor Swift or another music star in a suite. These musical connections might prompt another deja-vu moment for Bengals fans. Through recalling the story of former Bengals player Mike Reid. He retired from football to pursue a career in music.

Reid, now 76, was drafted out of Penn State seventh overall by the Bengals in 1970. As a defensive tackle, Reid was selected for two Pro Bowls and named an AP All-Pro in 1972. Injuries and a desire to pursue a musical career prompted Reid to retire in 1974. Reid has gone on to be a singer and songwriter. Co-writing Ronnie Milsap’s Grammy-winning 1983 country song “Stranger in My House.” Reid also co-wrote with Allen Shamblin Bonnie Raitt’s song “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” According to the Nashville Songwriters Foundation’s website, Reid has also written songs for Willie Nelson and Tim McGraw.

While many will travel through the Las Vegas strip during this Super Bowl week. This Super Bowl is also prompting a trip down memory lane for others.