Super Bowl Storytime - Beyond Cowboys

With COVID-19 restricting fans and media access this year, I bring you stories of my four years covering the biggest circus you'll ever experience

Super Bowl XL will be the strangest on record. A small crowd. No major activities in the host city involving the two teams. Only a smattering of media covering the game.

It’s a shame. But it’s a pandemic, after all. Hopefully, next year, the next Super Bowl will be ‘normal’ (heck, maybe the Dallas Cowboys will be there, you know, actually playing?).

READ MORE: What Are Dallas Cowboys Odds For Next Super Bowl?

But, for now, I come to you with stories from the four Super Bowls I covered — XXXIX, XL, XLI, and XLII. I can’t tell you how incredible it is to cover that game once, much less to do it four years in a row. At the time, I was covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the Charlotte Sun-Herald in Port Charlotte, Florida. If you’re a NFL beat writer covering a team, you’ve basically ‘in’ as far as a credential is concerned. And I can tell you that you’ve never seen a circus quite like Super Bowl week.

The author at Super Bowl XL in Detroit, Michigan

When I covered Super Bowl XL in Detroit, I drove into the city from Rochester every day, where I was staying with my aunt and uncle (free lodging always helps when you’re a sports writer on a budget). One morning, late in the week, I was listening to WYCD as I drove to the shuttle bus location to head to the media center, which was in the Renaissance Center (called the Ren Cen locally). Radio Row is the place to be during Super Bowl week, and that year it was at the Ren Cen. WYCD, which wasn’t a sports radio station, decided to crash the party, sending over one of their hosts, armed with a ‘credential,’ just to see what he could get away with.

The morning show host used his boss’ credential, and all credentials have photos. Somehow, this guy, who looks nothing like his boss, got into Radio Row and passed himself off as a former Detroit Lions player. He even had a bio sheet and an intern acting as his ‘handler’ (everyone on Radio Row has a handler). Several radio stations bought the ruse and actually put the guy on the air. But security eventually figured it out and carted the host away, leaving his intern to talk with the remaining hosts live on the air. She was not focused on the host headed for ‘Super Bowl jail.’

“I don’t know where they took him,” she said. “I mean I’m going to lose my internship!”

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Super Bowl XLI was the crowning moment of Peyton Manning’s football career to that point. Several times the bridesmaid in the AFC, thanks to Tom Brady, Manning and the Colts were finally at the Super Bowl. One thing to keep in mind about covering the Super Bowl is you’re cranking copy every day. Editors don’t expect one story. They expect several. And you’re looking for stories everywhere you can.

Manning, of course, is an entertaining dude. He might have been the best athlete-guest host of ‘Saturday Night Live.’ His ESPN show, ‘Peyton’s Places,’ is a rollicking good time. Back then, there were plenty of stories written about Manning, his commercials, and a ‘special video’ that everyone was trying to find.

Turns out, Manning’s acting career stretched back to his junior high days in New Orleans.

Manning admitted that in eighth grade he was trying to get out of a computer class. He was so desperate to avoid computer class and he signed up for a musical theater class. I’m not sure what Manning expected, but what he got was a play called ‘The Boyfriend.’

His part — a character named Miguel. His challenge — dancing the Tango.

“It had the wardrobe – black pants, red ruffled tuxedo shirt, and a yellow cummerbund,” Peyton said.

For three days this was the video EVERYONE wanted. Manning said it was buried deep inside the family vault. I didn’t know anyone in New Orleans, or knew anyone that knew someone, who knew someone, who knew someone … you know?

But, on Sunday, someone must have caved. I walked into a hotel near Miami Gardens for the pre-Super Bowl breakfast (they feed you something fierce at these things), and as I loaded up at the buffet, NFL Network was on.

They had the video. And it was glorious.

I mentioned Radio Row before. If you listen to 105.3 The Fan, then you know (in non-COVID years) during Super Bowl week they’re broadcasting most, if not all, of their shows from there. Most major market radio stations are there. It’s a zoo for most of the week, wherever Radio Row is. Along with the radio people, we as the print media are in the same area. So, I ended up seeing old friends each year.

Once, back in Miami for Super Bowl XLI, I ran into David Smoak. These days, David is hosting shows for SicEm365.com, which covers the Baylor Bears. Back then, though, he was doing the afternoon drive show for KTBB radio in Tyler, Texas. (David can give our Mike Fisher a run for his money in the hustle department.)

On Friday of that week I ran into David early in the day and he said to me, ‘Hey, what are you doing today around 4:30?’ I told him I didn’t have anything planned. He told me to come by the show. He didn’t say why.

Right around that time, I went over to his table. He was at commercial and he gestured for me to sit down. I sat for a couple of minutes and went through my notes while he was talking to his studio back in Tyler. Someone walked up and I quickly looked up, and I looked back down at my notes. A couple of seconds later, I stopped writing because I realized I had just looked up at Joe Namath.

Yep, ‘Broadway Joe.’ The MVP of Super Bowl III. The ‘I guarantee it’ quarterback of the New York Jets.

Namath had written an autobiography (I’m sure he had some help). David had secured an interview with him. So I set my recorder down while David interviewed Joe. And my column for the next day was written for me.

I had seen Namath the year before at Super Bowl XL, but I didn’t get the chance to talk with him. The NFL had seen fit to bring together all of the former Super Bowl MVPs for the 40th anniversary. Namath didn’t stick around for the Q&A, which was fine because it gave me more time to talk with Roger Staubach.

But, this time, I got to listen to Namath spin yarns for 15 minutes. Plus, he revealed that he was a project course away from finally completing his degree at Alabama.

But his best story was about the late Howard Cosell, someone Namath hung out with frequently in his heyday.

Apparently, Cosell loved to needle Namath (I think Cosell liked to do that to everyone, if Monday Night Football was any indication), and one day on an elevator in New York City, Cosell couldn’t resist when some random office worker stepped through the door.

“Did you hear about that Namath boy ending up face-down in a gutter on Third Avenue last night?” Cosell asked the fellow.

“Oh my goodness, that’s too bad,” he said.

“Why don’t you tell Joe yourself? He’s standing right here!” Cosell said.

The author at Super Bowl XXXIX. 

As media parties go — and there is always one each Super Bowl — the one in Jacksonville at Super Bowl XXXIX was my favorite. That week was incredible. It was my first Super Bowl.

The committee had decided to have the party at the TPC at Sawgrass, the home of the Players Championship. You got to walk the course a little bit after you got off the bus, and that pathway took you to the famed 17th hole, the one with the island green. They, you were handed a club and given the chance to take your best shot. So I did. I fell short, into the water. But I will contend to my dying day that it was a two-club wind that night — and I was one club short.

Anyway, free food and free booze, Hootie and Blowfish with golfer John Daly on the harmonica. That’s hard to beat.

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My last story comes from Jacksonville and Super Bowl XXXIX. Among the craziness that week was interviewing the cast of the remake of ‘The Longest Yard’ and covering Emmitt Smith’s retirement ceremony (only the league’s all-time leading rusher gets to retire at the Super Bowl).

Back when I was covering the game, the Hall of Fame announcement was on TV, but it was a lower-key affair than it is now. That was the year both Dan Marino and Steve Young were elected, so I expected it to be crowded and got their early to find a seat. I took my laptop with me because, well, I was still cranking copy for Sunday’s paper.

I was oblivious to everything around me, even the activity in front of me, which should have been distracting. But I kept pounding away. That is, until I was interrupted.

I’m a touch typist (I have my 10th grade typing teacher, Mrs. Jones, to thank for that) and I was in one of those grooves where I didn’t even need to look at the computer screen to know I was typing correctly when I felt this tug on my left shoulder. I stopped, looked up and saw this old man staring at me.

“You know, you’re really good at that,” he said, talking about my typing skills.

It was Andy Rooney. Yes, THAT Andy Rooney, from “60 Minutes.”

I was stunned. That week I had gotten used to seeing many of my journalistic role models in Jacksonville. But Rooney? This guy covered World War II for Stars and Stripes. He was one of the first journalists to view concentration camps after World War II.

And he respects MY typing?

I think I said something along the lines of “Thanks, sir.” I was so taken aback that I didn’t ask any questions. Rooney smiled, sat back down and looked straight ahead. I went back to typing.

Naturally, I thought to myself, ‘Why on earth is he here?’ Immediately I thought, well, he’s a Rooney, as in THAT Rooney. The Steelers Rooney’s. But, nope. He’s not related.

It also seemed random. And then it got weird.

I saw him again at Super Bowl XL in Detroit.

I saw him again at Super Bowl XLI in Miami.

I saw him again at Super Bowl XLII in Arizona.

We actually never spoke again. But, every year I saw Rooney, I did get a head nod.

I guess you don’t forget a guy that can type so many words ... in 60 minutes.