Chiefs and Eagles shouldn’t be fazed by the zany extravaganza of Super Bowl opening night

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Before Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs take on Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl, they have to tackle the media repeatedly.

The wild week kicks off Monday at Super Bowl opening night, a zany extravaganza that could overwhelm teams that aren’t used to the circus atmosphere.

But the Chiefs have been here five times in the past six years and the Eagles are back after nearly beating Kansas City in 2023.

Both teams have plenty of new players but neither side should be fazed by strange questions or odd requests that are far too common at this media spectacle. Guys will be asked to dance, perform silly skits and much more. Someone may again mention to Mahomes his dad bod. Kelce will hear plenty about girlfriend Taylor Swift and his retired older brother Jason, who played for the Eagles when the teams met two years ago.

Yes, this is where a female reporter showed up in a wedding dress and veil and proposed to Tom Brady in Arizona in 2008. He politely declined.

Football’s Xs and Os take a back seat for the first night.

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Media day has evolved from a daytime event on Tuesdays to a live, ticketed, prime-time showcase on national television. More than 6,000 media members from 26 countries were accredited to cover the first Super Bowl in Las Vegas last year.

The Big Easy is hosting its 11th big game and first since the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers in the Harbaugh Brothers Bowl in 2012.

The Chiefs are chasing history, aiming to become the first NFL team to threepeat in the Super Bowl era. The Eagles are seeking the franchise’s second Vince Lombardi trophy.

Both teams arrived Sunday and every player and coach will be available to the media for one hour on Monday night. A select group of players, including head coaches and quarterbacks, also have media sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Due to the hectic schedule, most of the preparation was completed last week. Game plans were installed and both teams held normal practices because this week won’t be routine.

“Most of that work gets done this week,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said last week. “I know it’s a two-week period before the game but once you get down to New Orleans it’s a bit chaotic, so you want to make sure you take care of business now.”

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said he’s making adjustments after his first Super Bowl trip but he wouldn’t explain specifics.

“We have notes that we’re going through and that we’ve been going through,” he said. “Couple tweaks here and there of what we will do differently, and a couple things that will stay the same. Of course, any time you go through any situation like that, you take notes like that and you try to get better from each circumstance you go through.”

One person who’ll be under the microscope this week is Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who is a frontrunner to become the head coach of the Saints. Moore can’t accept the job until after the Super Bowl but he has to be preparing to assemble a coaching staff while focusing on the task at hand.

Staying focused will be a priority for everyone on both teams. Avoiding distractions, especially the first night, could set the tone for winning it all Sunday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl