Kobe’s death casts dark shadow over what is usually

MIAMI — Chants of “Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!” broke a moment of a silence that kicked off a more subdued Super Bowl media night.

The NFL opened the most hyped week in professional sports with mixed emotions Monday night, one day after retired superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others died in a helicopter crash in California.

The Kansas City Chiefs took the stage first on what typically is a wild evening filled with zany antics by quasi-media members. One television reporter wearing a short, white dress and sailor's cap asked a few players to do the Floss dance with her but the atmosphere was mostly deflated.

Fans of the Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers made some noise. Still, it seemed there were more media than fans in the seats at Marlins Park, making it look a lot like a baseball game in the middle of summer than the NFL's annual version of a music festival.

Players tried to soak in the excitement of their first trip — for many — to the Super Bowl while struggling with the news of Bryant's death.

“I wasn't lucky enough to get to meet Kobe,“Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “But the impact that he made in my life, it was huge. The way he was able to go about every single day, when I was a kid, and the work ethic and the intensity that he had to be great every single day.

“Even to this day, I still watch videos on YouTube the day before games and just listen to him talk and how he puts everything in perspective of being great on and off the field with his kids, and his business ventures and then, obviously, his play. It's a tragic thing. Prayers to his family, but he made a huge impact in my life, for sure.”

Mahomes was the one who broke the news to teammate Tyreek Hill on the team's flight to Miami.

“It was likeM, ` an do you believe this?' And I was just like waking up. So I was likeD`ude, I don't want to see that right now,“Hill said. “He was likeD`ude, wake