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Feb 1, 2012 - For the first time ever, the NFL opened up its Super Bowl Media Day to roughly 7,000 fans on Tuesday, and I had the privilege of being one of those fans, stationed in Section 116. As I sat there before the Patriots came out, which they did at 10:00, I wondered to myself how much these tickets would be for the actual game on Sunday (a quick check of StubHub says roughly $6800), and here I was, checking out a beautiful Lucas Oil Stadium all decked out for Super Bowl XLVI, for a mere $25.
Fans were given a swag bag of goodies, including an FM radio to listen in to either the NFL Network coverage of Media Day, or any one of five other players/coaches, and an issue of the new NFL Magazine. A lot of the other stuff was corporate sponsor related, but that's to be expected. Fans also got a free bottle of Gatorade, the main sponsor of Media Day, as they left Lucas Oil Stadium.
I had started off with the Patriots listening into the NFL Network coverage, which jumped around from Tom Brady to Rob Gronkowski (who easily had the most people crowded around them) to Bill Belichick. The crowd was just kind of sitting around and watching the proceedings, then all of a sudden a good number of fans start yelling and cheering. Not knowing what was going on, I turned to Nate Dunlevy of ColtsAuthority.com, who I was sitting with, and asked what was going on. It turns out Brady had been asked about Peyton Manning (a common question for both he and Eli Manning), and Brady was gushing about Manning and how great he is, and how he hopes Manning is playing for the Colts next season.
The first time the crowd cheered, Brady noticeably looked confused and asked one of the reporters around him "Can they hear me?", which was when he was clued into the fact that all the fans had radios to listen in, and an overwhelming majority of the Colts-centric crowd was listening into him. After that, he continued to pander to the crowd, getting cheers fairly often as he talked more about Manning, how he's glad he isn't facing Dwight Freeney, and 4th and 2. Phil B. Wilson of the Indianapolis Star pointed out to him where he was on the field, the 28 yard line:
Yeah, I remember that pretty well.
That was probably the loudest cheer of the day.
The 2011 season has been quite bizarre for the Colts and their fans, and people cheering Tom Brady, inside Lucas Oil Stadium, certainly adds to that. The stadium personnel were clearly concerned that the crowd, about 75% Colts fans, would boo the Patriots mercilessly when they walked into the stadium, as they asked the fans to "act classy" throughout the day. Remember, this was the crowd that made national news when they booed a 14 year old girl wearing a Patriots jersey back in 2008, the height of the rivalry. There were no boos Tuesday. I think the city of Indianapolis has resigned itself to the fact the Patriots aren't leaving town, so it's better to not acknowledge their existence, hence no booing.
The Giants, on the other hand, got a nice roar from the crowd when they entered. It's clear the host city's allegiance is staying "in the family", so to speak.
It only took about five questions before Eli Manning started to get questions about his big brother, and he gave similar answers to what Brady did, getting the same crowd reaction as before. He did have a pretty good zinger when asked about family get-togethers at their parent's house:
Peyton and I still sleep in bunk beds when we go back to Mom and Dad's. Since Peyton is older he gets first choice, so I've been on the bottom for some time now.
This was an obvious joke, but it didn't stop a reporter from coming back to verify what Manning said, and he confirmed that, in fact, they don't share a bedroom at their parents.
It was a mildy entertaining three hours, as it was interesting to see folks from the media that you see everyday aimlessly move about trying to figure out where to go next. The hour between the two sessions was way too long from the fan's perspective, but they interviewed some TV and print personalities, with the only boos of the day coming when Maria Menounos, dressed in her Tom Brady #12, started screaming "GO PATS" into the microphone. I'm not sure what else the NFL can do to make that hour a little more tolerable, other than to shorten it, but I don't see that happening. The media needs that break.
I was also looking forward to the craziness everyone talks about on Media Day, whether it be people dressed up, girls proposing marriage while in a wedding dress, etc., but it was non-existent Tuesday. I saw one guy dressed up as a super hero, and did hear him ask Giants DE, and former Notre Dame standout Justin Tuck what his super power would be, which he appropriately replied with "the ability to control the scoreboard." There was also a guy dressed fully in a Tom Brady uniform, that thought he looked like Brady with the long hair, which did get a little bit of attention, and a few different hats being passed around, but nothing really noteworthy.
It was like that scene in Super Troopers when Farva finally gets on the road and he wants to "do that thang" that Mac and Foster do, only to find out it's lamer than what he was led to believe. At least nobody went off the handle and called random strangers a phrase I'll keep out of a PG column. All the build-up without the pay-off. Oh well.
The city of Indianapolis is so behind this Super Bowl that they easily found 7,000 fans to show up and watch reporters ask questions, even when they could only hear one at a time. I'm sure the NFL will try this next year in New Orleans, and I'm sure they'll get a similar showing. Would I attend another one of these? Possibly, but it might also have to coincide with the Colts playing in the game as well.
I hope I get to make that choice sooner rather than later.
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