Patriots Media Day Craziness
Tuesday brought us the craziness of Super Bowl media day and, as usual, it didn’t disappoint. For most of the week, players and coaches for the New York Giants and New England Patriots get questions about matchups, rematches, and thoughts heading into the big game. But the day that the NFL actually sets up for questions, very few have anything to do with football.
On Tuesday there was plenty of craziness. From a guy from Nickelodeon dressed in a superhero costume to a television crew from the Spanish language television network Telemundo holding up a disco ball and asking people to salsa.
Of course, the two most popular interviewees were head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. The normally low-key and monotone coach even got a few laughs out of the experience. Some of the questions he just ignored like when someone from the Audience Network asked Belichick how he’d fix the Minnesota Timberwolves. Others he actually entertained with an answer like when Vic (wearing a furry Russian hat, large sunglasses, and a robe) and Brick from Fox radio in Los Angeles asked him, “Are there forces beyond football at play with your team… Spiritual forces?” To which Belichick just responded with “Possibly” before they informed him, “It’s the year of the Dragon.” That’s the kind of questions you get at media day. At one point, someone from VH1 Fan Jam, wearing an old-fashioned leather football helmet tried to get Belichick to put it on. Unsurprisingly, he declined.
Tom Brady is always the most popular player at these events. Everyone remembers four years ago when a “reporter” from Mexico’s TV Azteca showed up in a wedding dress and begged Brady to marry her. There were no wedding dresses this year but Brady seemed a little more willing to comply with the crazy questions. When Brady was asked about growing up with three sisters, he talked about how they would dress him up and even painted his nails once. That’s not something you would usually hear from the two-time Super Bowl MVP.
Someone not making noise that you would expect was Chad Ochocinco. The Patriots wide receiver is playing in the first Super Bowl of his career. Usually Ochocinco is present at Super Bowl media day as the lead correspondent for the “Ochocinco News Network”. However, as a participant in this year’s big game, you’d expect Ochocinco to be the ringmaster of this circus. But this year he just sat in the stands (he wasn’t given one of the 18 podiums reserved for star players and coaches) and answered questions when asked. At one point, Deion Sanders of the NFL Network asked him about not being at a podium and he responded by saying that he doesn’t need a podium when he was three million followers on Twitter.
This year, the NFL decided to add something new to media day by letting fans sit in the stands and observe the craziness for $25. 7,000 fans showed up listening to answers from the players on headphones. Tom Brady got the biggest kick out of this change to media day and seemed very excited when he realized they could hear him.
One person not present at Patriots media day was offensive tackle Matt Light who was sick. When the Giants took over the event later in the day, Deion Sanders for NFL Network asked Osi Umenyiora if he had a message for Light. “Matt Light, please get well soon.” He continued “I hope to see you on Sunday. You are one of my greatest friends.” Light and Umenyiora were in the news this week when the Giants defensive lineman told reporters that he wasn’t very fond with the man he’s had two altercations with during games.
It seems insane to pick a day out of the most important in a player’s career, stick in front of 5,000 media member, and have them pester them about topics that have nothing to do with football but Super Bowl media day has become a tradition of its own. Wednesday the Patriots will get serious again as they prepare for Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday. It signals the final stretch of two weeks of preparation for the chance to win football’s ultimate prize.
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