Levi’s Stadium became a site of personal tribute alongside athletic spectacle on Sunday night as global music superstar Bad Bunny honored his late uncle during his Super Bowl L halftime performance. The artist, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, wore a custom all-white football jersey bearing the name “Ocasio” and the number “64,” a gesture revealed after the show to be a dedication to his uncle, Tío Cutito.
According to a report in Harper’s Bazaar, Cutito introduced Martínez Ocasio to the NFL and fostered a lifelong passion for the San Francisco 49ers. “Everything that I know about the NFL is thanks to him,” Martínez Ocasio told the magazine. He described a childhood tradition of watching playoff games with his uncle, who moved to the United States at age 17 and maintained a yearly visit to Puerto Rico around the NFL postseason.
The timing of Super Bowl LX, played at the 49ers’ home stadium, held particular significance for the artist. Cutito passed away two years prior, shortly after the 49ers’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2024 Super Bowl. “I always dreamed of taking my uncle to a Super Bowl one year, but I couldn’t; his death was sudden and without warning,” Martínez Ocasio said. “So I decided to bring him on my shirt when I performed at the Super Bowl: Ocasio, his last name, the same as my mom, along with his birth year, ’64. I dedicated my show before I began; I am sure he saw it, he was present, and he felt proud of his nephew.”
The tribute, reported by the 49ers’ team website and multiple news outlets including the San Francisco Gate and the Daily Mail, added a layer of emotional resonance to a halftime show celebrated for its cultural representation and energetic performance of the artist’s hit songs. Martínez Ocasio expressed a hope that the 49ers would eventually secure another Super Bowl victory, a sentiment echoing the shared passion he held with his uncle.