Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos defence may have caused something of a shock by overcoming the heavily fancied Carolina Panthers but that had nothing on the surprise that we all got by learning that the Ireland boss would make a fairly decent NFL analyst.
This is one of our favourite Irish sporting moments of this burgeoning year, and it was discussed on our daily sports podcast The Racket:
Viewers who tuned in to watch Super Bowl 50 on BBC 2 were treated to a guest appearance from Martin O'Neill early in the first quarter of the game.
Martin revealed to Mark Champman that himself and Roy Keane made an agreement that if Ireland qualified for Euro 2016 they would celebrate by going to the Super Bowl. This has absolutely made our year.
Earlier in the week we learned of O'Neill and Keane's shared love of the NFL, but we never knew it ran this deep. The Ireland manager revealed that he's been a Peyton Manning fan for a long time, but ultimately tipped the Panthers to get the win.
Martin O'Neill NFL analyst.
Great to see the Republic of Ireland manager and Osi Umenyiora strike up such a rapport on air.
This surprise appearance caught many Irish sports fans off guard, and sure enough twitter blew up within seconds:
Martin O Neill On A Scouting Mission #SuperBowl50 pic.twitter.com/g1eT0sgnQR
— KING ERIC ᴸᵛᵍᴼᵘᵗ (@brobread) February 8, 2016
Martin O'Neill making an appearance on the Super Bowl punditry, drawing comparisons on football. Throwing Roy Keane into the mix. ?
— Siobhan (@SimplySib) February 8, 2016
Roy Keane and Martin O'Neill going on holiday together is like something Alan Partridge would dictate to Lynn as a sitcom idea #bbcsuperbowl
— Niall (@hoosay) February 8, 2016
Martin O'Neill failing to wear headphones properly is my favourite moment so far of #SuperBowl
— Lindsey Alder (@linds_alder) February 8, 2016
1. I have consumed alcohol. 2. I am watching the #superbowl . 3. WTF is Martin O'Neill doing on my stream!? #bbc
— Sean Murphy (@africafeed) February 8, 2016
Grid iron buddies Martin O Neill and Roy Keane at Super Bowl in California tonight.
— Philip Quinn (@Quinner61) February 8, 2016
Martin O'Neill in the studio to discuss the Super Bowl is surreal.
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) February 8, 2016
There's Martin O'Neill at the super bowl... Went there with Keane as a present to themselves for qualifying for the Euros. This is odd
— Dodge (@seidodge) February 7, 2016
Ah lads Martin O Neill and Roy Keane are at the super bowl ??
— Karen (@Karen25_x) February 7, 2016
Has Martin O Neill got lost on the way to the Euros??!?!??! WRONG PART OF THE WORLD MARTIN!!!!!! #SB50
— James Cummins (@SnappyJim33) February 7, 2016
Martin O'Neill, NFL expert of course
— The Normal One (@LFCTikiTaka) February 7, 2016
WHAT ON EARTH IS MARTIN O'NEILL DOING AT THE SUPERBOWL THIS IS GAS #SuperBowl
— Netflix & Rachill (@ronronzo) February 7, 2016
