South Florida looks to land another Super Bowl
Chairman wants Hard Rock to be in rotation for game.
With a U2 concert, Barcelona vs. Real Madrid and the 2020 Super Bowl on the calendar, you might ask what more could logically be expected for Hard Rock Stadium?
Another Super Bowl, that’s what.
Rodney Barreto, chairman of the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee, confirmed Tuesday that his group has taken the first step in the process to land another Super Bowl for South Florida.
After Super Bowl LIV in Miami Gardens, the title game will shift to the Rams’ new stadium in Inglewood, Calif., in 2021. But after that, it’s fair game.
The NFL sent a letter to various cities, asking if they would be interested in participating in the bidding process for the next batch of Super Bowls. For Barreto, who half-jokingly wonders why every Super Bowl isn’t played in South Florida, it didn’t take long to draft a letter with a definite yes.
NFL owners voted last summer to bring the game back to South Florida following a 10-year hiatus thanks in large part to the half-billion dollar renovation by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, capped by a presentation by Dolphins Hall of Famer Larry Csonka.
“We’re back, baby, is the way I look at it,” Barreto said. “Look at that stadium. It’s incredible. Geographical location, South Florida — you know what I mean? It doesn’t get any better than this. Look at what’s going on in the Northeast right now.”
In recent years, the NFL has shown a willingness to bring the game to non-traditional areas such as Indianapolis, Minneapolis and New York/New Jersey. Citi e s wi t h n e w o r g r e a t l y improved stadiums, such as Miami and Atlanta, also have been rewarded. Put it together and what does that mean for South Florida?
“I’m hoping at least every four years, right?” Barreto said. “I think the NFL had some real experiences at some other cities.”
Although he was impressed by Houston’s job hosting the most recent Super Bowl, Bar- reto said he thought the 2016 game in the San Francisco Bay Area was too vanilla for a 50th anniversary Super Bowl.
“I w a s n ’ t t o t a l l y impressed,” Barreto said. “And the stadium was an hour, hour and a half outside San Francisco. I don’t know, I’m biased. Ideally, we’d love to have it here on some kind of rotation basis. I’m not sure that’s in the cards yet. A lot of these teams want to have the Super Bowl. They realized what we’ve known all along: Super Bowls are great for your community.”
Pouncey happy with T i mmons a c q u i s i t i o n : Linebacker Lawrence Timmons left one team in which he matched wits with a center named Pouncey to join a team with a Pro Bowl center named Pouncey.
And don’t think for a second that Mike Pouncey, the Dolphins’ center and twin brother of the Steelers’ Maurkice, isn’t enjoying this.
“I love it,” Pouncey said Monday. “Timmons is my friend.” (Pouncey played at Florida, Timmons at Florida State, although they didn’t face off in college.)
Although Mike is glad to see the Dolphins sign Timmons to a two-year, $12 million contract, his brother isn’t sharing his joy.
Asked if he received any kind of scouting report on Timmons from his brother, Mike laughed and said, “Nah, man. He a i n’t t e l l i n’ me nothin’. He’s a little upset.”
Negotiating season in the NFL has changed Mike’s offensive line, with left tackle Branden Albert being traded to Jacksonville, Laremy Tun- sil being anointed the new left tackle and Ted Larsen joining Miami from the Bears.
Whether the moves pan out will revolve in large part around Tunsil, last year’s first-round pick.
“He was a great college football player, a great NFL guard and we’ll see how it goes,” Pouncey said. “He’s a great football player. Whatever he puts his mind to, he’ll be able to do it.”
Pouncey said he’d only t alked with Alber t about non-football issues and said, “He’s doing good.”
As for Larsen, who can play guard or spell Pouncey at center: “I know he’s a r e a l l y p hy s i c a l f o o t b a l l player. I’m excited to work with him.”