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Good morning and welcome to Kid News.
I'm Kim.
Today is Monday, February 9th, 2026.
And we begin with a quarterback who was once the butt of NFL jokes and memes getting the last laugh.
Sam Darnold wrote the final chapter of his redemption story last night, steering his Seahawks to a lopsided 29-13 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots.
According to NBC, Sam's the first starting quarterback in NFL history to win a Super Bowl after bouncing around to five or more teams.
There'll probably be a bit of hooky played in Seattle later this week, when the city toasts its hometown heroes with a victory parade.
But hooky is also the word of the day today all across the country.
The annual UKG Super Bowl absenteeism survey finds a record 262 million people in the US will miss work on what is now known as Super Sick Monday.
That's 4 million more coming down with Super Bowl flu than last year.
The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.
That's long been the iconic unofficial slogan of the Olympics, and this first weekend was no exception.
On the thrill side, the USA won gold in the figure skating team competition and for only the second time in history, an American woman won the downhill.
But Breezy Johnson's epic feat followed a frightening crash by Lindsey Vonn, the very first American woman to take gold in that race and the veteran who vowed to compete on a ruptured ACL.
Lindsey clipped a gate just 13 seconds into her run yesterday, went down hard and within hours had surgery on a broken left leg.
Another Olympian who fought through injury.
High school senior Ollie Martin of Vail Colorado, who competed with a broken arm and narrowly missed the podium in the Big Air Snowboard Competition.
Fourth is great, he said afterward.
Third would have been better, but just to be able to come this far is pretty cool.
17-year-old Ollie has one more shot.
He'll compete in the Slopestyle event a week from today.
It may not feel like it, but the worst of the U.S.'
's long deep freeze might be over.
After a weekend of the coldest air of winter, with wind chills hitting 40 below in parts of the Northeast, a slow warm-up should begin today.
It's not a moment too soon.
New York City shivered at 3 degrees yesterday, 18 degrees colder than McMurdo Station in Antarctica, which was a balmy 21.
Forecasters say this recent string of ridiculously frigid weather is, for most parts of the US, the most extreme in two decades.
Picture this, a jellyfish the size of a school bus.
Researchers using a remote-controlled vehicle found one 820 feet below the sea off the coast of Argentina.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, this giant phantom jelly, has arms that can reach 33 feet long and bells more than three feet wide.
You'd think something that enormous would be easy to find.
But scientists say these creatures live far from the prying eyes of humans.
They prefer to lurk in the midnight zone, a completely dark part of the ocean between 3300 and 13100 feet deep.
In fact they're so elusive they've been spotted only about 120 times since the first one was collected in 1899.
We've put a link to the video on our resource page.
49er star running back Christian McCaffrey has a message for kids about money.
He was Intuit's guest speaker last week in San Francisco to talk to youngsters about financial literacy, a subject some schools teach but many don't.
His biggest piece of advice, learn the language of money before getting your first job.
That means understanding terms along with the importance of saving and investing.
The biggest surprise of the day, what Christian did with his first big NFL paycheck.
I didn't even look at it, he told the crowd.
I just kept working.
I don't play football for money and I don't play for accolades.
I never have and I never will.
I think a lot of times I've found that guys that want the accolades and want the money they're out of the league in two or three years.
But the guys that love the game are the ones that get the money and the accolades.
Christian, who won the NFL's 2026 Comeback Player of the Year and Salute to Service Awards, certainly has both.
Still to come, just because you're an Olympic athlete doesn't mean you get a pass on your homework.
The proof, just ahead.
But first, we want to wish Kara Glade of New Orleans, Louisiana, a belated happy ninth birthday.
Kara and her sister, Evelyn, both love soccer, softball, and climbing.
They also have some special guests in town, so shout-outs to their friends ME, CJ and Ollie, who are visiting from Nashville Tennessee.
Now, today's Kid News quiz.
Who won the Super Bowl?
The Seattle Seahawks.
What place did 17-year-old American snowboarder Ollie Martin place in the big air competition?
Fourth, despite competing with a broken arm.
It was colder in New York City yesterday than where?
Antarctica.
How big is the giant phantom jelly?
33 feet long, the size of a school bus.
In today's Kid News Kicker, even Olympic athletes have homework woes.
Canadian figure skater Madeline Skizas takes classes at McMaster University in Ontario and mixed up the due date for a sociology assignment.
Her excuse was better than most.
In an email to her professor she wrote I'm a student in your sociology 2FF3 course and I'm wondering if I could get a short extension on this week's reflection.
I was competing in the Olympic Games yesterday and thought the reflection was due on Sunday, not Friday.
Madeline attached a link to a Canadian Olympic Committee press release to prove her participation and put it all on social captioning the post saying L-O-L-L-L, I heart being a student athlete.
Thanks again to the Glades of New Orleans, Louisiana for sponsoring today's quiz.
Happy belated birthday to Kara and hello to her teachers, Ms.
Zetzman and Ms.
Ward and Evelyn's teachers, Ms.
Glazer and Ms.
Hillary and all their friends at Isidore Newman.
And Kara and Evelyn also have a message for all our Kid News listeners.
They want to wish everyone a happy Mardi Gras season.
Thank you, Glade family, and shout-outs for our Kid News classrooms.
Mrs. Bach and her Bach Stars at Habamak in Pembroke, Massachusetts.
Ms.
Anzai and her Mustangs at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Pearl City, Hawaii.
Ms.
Umstead and her Imps at West Cary Middle School in Cary, North Carolina.
And Mrs. Kilburn and her Chipmunks at Underwood in Florence, Alabama.
Thanks for listening.
Have a great day, and we'll see you back here for more kid news tomorrow morning.
