AFC ‘allowed to win’ one frank revelation
MIAMI – The three-ring circus that is Super Bowl Opening Night is complete, Monday’s annual affair fairly tame and even somewhat tempered in light of recent events. Here are 32 things we learned at Marlins Park:
1. As expected, the shocking death of Kobe Bryant continues to cast a pall over the sports world, and Super Bowl LIV’s kickoff event began with a moment of silence for the Lakers’ legend.
2. For whatever reason, several players were also asked about the impact of coronavirus. Unsurprisingly, no meaningful insights – though I didn’t hear if the question was posed to Dr. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, also a starting guard for the Chiefs.
3. Super Bowl Opening Night really isn’t a time to talk about ... football. For most folks who cover the NFL regularly ... it’s a time to watch players react in the theater of the absurd, fielding off-thewall queries from children, comics, foreign correspondents, et al. Good times.
4. Buttoned up in a suit coming off the Chiefs’ charter flight Sunday, head coach Andy Reid was back on brand Monday, wearing a fabulous Tommy Bahama shirt emblazoned with the Kansas City team’s arrowhead logo.
5. QB Patrick Mahomes was clearly the Chiefs’ player in most demand.
6. CB Richard Sherman was clearly the 49ers’ player in most demand.
7. I could have listened to Sherman talk all night. A guy who seems to fly off the handle at times – when baited by the likes of Skip Bayless, Michael Crabtree or Darrelle Revis – really could not have been much more considerate and pensive with every question, no matter how ridiculous. Sherm gave very thoughtful answers when asked about Bryant ... or the pain of being cut by Seattle ... or rehabbing his Achilles in 2018 ... or when assessing Jennifer Lopez movies.
8. Chiefs TE Travis Kelce, admitting he’s always been a “class clown,” seemed to be having the most fun with an event that should be breezy.
9. Big ovation when Kelce and 49ers All-Pro TE George Kittle were interviewed in tandem. The tight end comparison is shaping up as one of Super Bowl LIV’s overriding subplots.
10. Major applause, too, between the team’s media sessions when former Dolphins LB Zach Thomas was interviewed. The five-time All-Pro could be a Pro Football Hall of Famer before the weekend is out.
11. If you haven’t seen the 49ers’ mascot doing a dance routine with team cheerleaders ... then you really haven’t missed anything.
12. Opening Night drew a robust attendance at Marlins Park. Can only help when natives don’t have to watch the local baseball team when they visit this unique venue.
13. Saying he was a “troubled kid” growing up, 49ers DE Frank Clark dished about his relationship with mentor Draymond Green of the NBA’s Warriors – all the more interesting given Green attended Michigan State and Clark went to Michigan.
14. Clark wore a diamond-studded necklace that spelled “Phoenix,” the name of his daughter.
15. One of Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins’
nicknames is “Starship 14.” How has that not gone viral?
16. Watkins was the first wideout drafted in a 2014 first round that included Mike Evans, Odell Beckham Jr., Brandin Cooks and Kelvin Benjamin. Watkins can become the first of that bunch to win the Super Bowl. “I don’t have the numbers or Pro Bowls,” he said, “but we play this game for the ring.”
17. Eli Manning, selected atop the 2004 draft, is the most recent No. 1 overall pick to get a Super Bowl ring – two in his case. Chiefs LT Eric Fisher, the top pick in 2013, can change that.
18. Count Chiefs P Dustin Colquitt among those who loved watching Super Bowl LIII, when the Patriots and Rams exchanged 14 punts. “Boring game,” scoffed Colquitt, “Man, I wished I’d played in that game.”
19. 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo said he knew Mahomes was a first-rate human when last year’s league MVP checked on Jimmy G after he suffered a torn ACL in Kansas City in Week 3 of the 2018 season.
20. As for Garoppolo’s recent numbers – he threw eight passes in the NFC championship game – he said, “We can pass the ball zero times and rush for 400 yards, and I’ll be happy.”
21. But maybe Sunday is the day Garoppolo gets to cut it loose. Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday, “I don’t believe you can just win running the ball” ... even though San Francisco has done pretty much exactly that in the postseason, 471 of the team’s 662 yards coming on the ground.
22. Kittle revealed Garoppolo is an unreliable texter.
23. Interestingly, Shanahan claimed to have no email account, claiming it was too much responsibility to answer so much correspondence.
24. He also intimated he’s ready to ditch the red trucker’s hat he’s worn most of the season and only continues to wear it because his wife insists it brings the team good luck – which Shanahan doesn’t buy.
25. Growing up – and watching his father, Mike, lose a Super Bowl while with the 1986 Broncos before winning with the 1994 Niners – Shanahan said, “I didn’t know the AFC was allowed to win,” when asked for his childhood memories of the game. Before the Broncos upset the reigning champion Packers in Super Bowl XXXII, breaking the AFC’s 13-game Super Sunday losing streak, Shanahan revealed, “I just assumed we were gonna get killed.”
26. All of the players seem pretty psyched to be in Miami, which is hosting its record 11th Super Bowl but first in a decade. Chiefs players were especially thankful to escape the snow and cold from the Midwest.
27. 49ers LT Joe Staley, who was a rookie in 2007, was jazzed to see former QB Trent Dilfer, who played his final NFL season with San Francisco in 2007.
“He lost his hair because I was blocking for him,” Staley quipped.
28. Staley, who is married to former professional soccer player Carrie Dew, is a huge fan of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and was disappointed that the 49ers won’t be playing in their London stadium in 2020.
29. When it comes to the more raucous fan base – in terms of volume (size and sound) – advantage to San Francisco’s “Faithful” on Monday.
30. The Chiefs have often been compared to a track team and looked like one in the all-white Super Bowl sweats donned by both clubs.
31. Miami isn’t nearly as convenient or centrally located as some recent Super Bowl sites (Indianapolis, New Orleans, Atlanta) ... but it’s fun feeling like you have a role in an episode of “Ballers.”
32. In what was a personal thrill, when I hit one of the frequent gridlock spots that forms when navigating the Opening Night floor, I was personally escorted through by Ravens public relations stud – and fellow “Star Wars” fan – Chad Steele. If you’ve never seen Chad, formerly Ray Lewis’ postgame body man, he is 6-6 and has a knack for always finding his way into Super Bowl camera shots, often escorting Tom Brady or whoever won the game’s MVP award. Keep your eyes peeled for Chad on Sunday night. If he becomes a prop bet, I’m putting my money on him “guarding” Mahomes.