Best moments from Super Bowl LIX Opening Night
Super Bowl Opening Night gives the players and coaches a chance to take their minds off football and share their personalities with the world. Evan Davidson recaps the best moments from Monday’s media frenzy.
It’s officially Super Bowl Week, and the craziness is underway.
Superstar pass rusher Myles Garrett requested a trade out of Cleveland and Los Angeles Rams star receiver Cooper Kupp revealed that the team is looking to move him, but both announcements occurred Monday before the true craziness — Super Bowl Opening Night.
Now you’re thinking, well, what is Opening Night?
For starters, it’s the only time the two teams — the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs — will share the stage before stepping on the turf at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX on Sunday.
But it’s also a media day, a time for thousands of media members to ask questions and a chance for fans to interact with their idols. That being said, it’s not your typical media day. As we all know, the NFL does nothing without bringing the entertainment.
Last year’s Opening Night began with UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer introducing the players before competing quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy stood side by side, answering questions and interacting with one another, in a seemingly forbidden act before they faced off in the biggest game of their lives.
Opening Night also gives the players and coaches a chance to take their minds off football and share their personalities with the world. Here are some of the best moments from this season’s edition of Super Bowl Opening Night:
The Eagles and Chiefs were introduced with a marching band leading them out. What an entrance for the 11th Super Bowl to be held in New Orleans.
One of the best moments happened before Opening Night began. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero were distracted by the PA announcer while live on-air, leaving Pelissero to interrupt the segment before likening the poor announcer to a bad episode of Sesame Street.
We can’t talk about Kansas City without at least one mention of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. Everyone knows about her music, but who knew that Swift makes incredible homemade pop tarts?
Turns out that the previous statement was false. Not everyone knows about her music. Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert will probably lose a few fans for mistaking TLC’s song Waterfalls as one of Swift’s.
In one of the more hilarious but awkward moments of the night, former star wideout Chad Johnson (Ochocinco) snuck up on Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and kissed him on the head. Sirianni said he tried to call him, but he never got his number. Ouch.
Comedian Guillermo Martinez, who’s famously known for his role on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, has become a staple at media events. From trying to get LeBron James’ attention to asking Oscars attendees to take shots of tequila with him, Martinez brings the party everywhere he goes. In his latest efforts, he tried to claim he was a rapper and give Eagles QB Jalen Hurts a mixtape, but Hurts wasn’t buying it.
Let’s take a moment and appreciate the coaches who led their teams to the Super Bowl. But more importantly, let’s appreciate Chiefs HC Andy Reid’s awesome flamingo-patterned shirt.
How about some Canadian content? Philadelphia safety Sydney Brown spoke with Sportsnet’s Arash Madani about his football journey that took him from London, Ont., to the cusp of hoisting the Lombardi.
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Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata has become one of the funnier players in the NFL. Mailata went viral after the NFC championship game for quoting Bane from The Dark Knight Rises midplay. Now, he’s claiming he can eat 2,000 Krabby Patties in only five minutes. Seems reasonable for a man that’s six-foot-eight, 365 pounds.
While Mailata is making a strong case, Jameis Winston still holds the crown for the funniest player in the NFL. Winston brought his famous “eat a ‘W’” catchphrase to Opening Night, throwing ‘W’ cookies at the Eagles stars. ‘W’, of course, means a win.
Some more Winston highlights, this time asking Philly star running back Saquon Barkley which team will sign him in free agency. Barkley answered, however, by throwing shade at his former team, the New York Giants.
This might top the list of unique objects Mahomes was ever asked to sign. A fan asked the QB to sign a pillow featuring a picture of Mahomes from the 2024 Super Bowl parade, where he was showing off his “dad bod.”
Does your favourite colour have any impact on game performance? Probably not. But at least for the rest of the week, it would be best for Mahomes and Barkley to find something more neutral. Maybe silver for the Lombardi Trophy.
