CHIEFS LIKE SMITH-SCHUSTER’S L.A. VIBE
While playing at Long Beach Poly High and USC, receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster dreamed of one day playing in the Super Bowl.
Six years into his NFL career, Smith-Schuster will get his opportunity.
He could be a key player Sunday when the Chiefs meet the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
“I’m super excited to represent Long Beach Poly and USC — and just Los Angeles,” Smith-Schuster said. “I’ll be repping in the Super Bowl.”
Smith-Schuster, 26, was with the Pittsburgh Steelers for five season before signing a one-year, incentive-laden $10.75 million contract with the Chiefs.
The Chiefs traded speedy Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins and signed receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, giving quarterback Patrick Mahomes an almost entirely new receiving corps to go with star tight end Travis Kelce.
Smith-Schuster caught 78 passes for 933 yards and three touchdowns.
“Great personality, so we like that addition that way,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Tuesday. “But he also complements Kelce.
“He has that ability to feel in space, openings, and Patrick trusts that. He’s surehanded, he’s great after the catch, tough to bring down and he’s smart.”
Kelce said Smith-Schuster made an impression during training camp. Though he was new to the team, he implored teammates to take a few extra reps.
“Like, ‘Hey man, I know we’re dog tired and coaches are giving us a break here, but why don’t we push through some of these extra reps,’ ” Kelce said about Smith Schuster. “That kind of stuff goes a long way.”
Smith-Schuster said he is reminded of the magnitude of Sunday’s game every time he studies his playbook and sees the Super Bowl LVII logo.
“I’ve been chasing a Super Bowl ring for the past six years,” he said. “I’m actually here, and it’s unbelievable.”
Chargers connection
The Chargers are nearly three decades removed from their lone Super Bowl appearance, which came after the 1994 season.
But the franchise has a strong connection to Super Bowl LVII in Nick Sirianni, the Eagles coach who spent five seasons with the Chargers and met one of his mentors during that time.
Sirianni on Tuesday identified his father, Fran, and his college coach at Mt. Union, Larry Kehres, as two of the three most influential people in his career. The other: Frank Reich.
He and Reich were together for three years with the Chargers before Reich left in 2018 to become the head coach in Indianapolis and hired Sirianni to be his offensive coordinator.
“I try to help the coaches here who could be head coaches one day the way Frank helped me,” Sirianni said. “Frank was very deliberate in helping me. That’s one of the reasons I think I was ready to be in this position.”
Ticket prices: Inflation-plus
The get-in ticket price for Super Bowl LVII is more than twice as expensive as when the Super Bowl was in Arizona eight years ago.
According to Gametime, the lowest-priced Super Bowl tickets on the secondary market Tuesday were $5,623 each, down from $6,248 over the weekend. The most expensive tickets continue to climb, however. Those seats were available from $24,855 each, up from $20,871 on Sunday.
In 2015, when the Patriots played the Seahawks at the site of Sunday’s game, the lowest-priced tickets cost $2,800. Seven years before that, when the Giants stunned the previously-undefeated Patriots, the first Super Bowl in Glendale, the lowest-priced tickets on the secondary market were $700.