As the nation still mourns the 20 children and six adults tragically lost in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary just over one month ago, a group of 26 students from the school will memorialize the victims on the TV's biggest platform, performing "America the Beautiful" during the Super Bowl XLVII pre-game show, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed Wednesday, USA Today reported.
The Newtown, Conn. students will travel to the game in style. The league is flying the children and their families down to New Orleans later this week in advance of the performance. The children's song will be broadcast live on CBS just before Alicia Keys sings the National Anthem.
The venerating gesture marks the end of an NFL season in which the league lent its support to the victims of the shooting, their families, and the Newtown community at large via the "S.H.E.S." (Sandy Hook Elementary School) campaign. Since the tragedy occurred, the NFL has also held moments of silence before games, and everyone from players to coaching staff have done something to honor the victims, putting stickers on helmets and headsets, as well as writing personal messages on cleats and gloves.
"Obviously, with the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., our thoughts and prayers are with all the people impacted by that tragedy," said New York Jets coach Rex Ryan.
The New York Giants invited students and their families onto the field during the team's pre-game introductions before their Week 17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Only two weeks before that, Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz had paid an especially emotional visit to the family of 6-year-old shooting victim Jack Pinto, a Cruz fan who was buried in a No. 80 Giants jersey.
"It was a time where I just wanted to be a positive voice, a positive light in a time where it can be very negative. It was a good time," Cruz said of his visit with the Pinto family. "They're a great family and they are really united right now at this time. It was good to see."
Players across the NFL have publicly mourned the Newtown victims, showing their support for the town in numerous ways. Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson auctioned off his game-worn cleats, on which he wrote all the victims' names, giving the proceeds to the United Way's Sandy Hook School Support Fund.
One of the many teams raising money for victims of the shooting, Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt tweeted a picture of him and a few students from the school on the field around Week 16 of the season.
"I just kind of wanted to give them as normal a day as possible, just running around, having fun, going out on the field," Watt told USA TODAY Sports. "We were kicking field goals. They were trying to put it through the uprights. Just be kids. And to see them in a normal setting, having fun and big smiles on their faces was awesome."
The Sandy Hook students will sing just before the 2013 Super Bowl begins Sunday Feb. 3 on CBS at 6:30 p.m. EST.