Super Bowl Memories
1/30/2015 6:28:28 PM | General, Blog
For thesecond time in his two NFL seasons, Luke Willson will play in the final game onthe NFL schedule when he takes the field with the Seattle Seahawks to face theNew England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona.
Willsonis one of only seven Rice Owls who have reached the Super Bowl and on Saturdayhe becomes the fifth of those seven to play in multiple games. Three of the other four Owls to play in morethan one Super Bowl (Darryl Grant, Earl Cooper and Larry Izzo) have come out onthe winning side and Willson hopes to add an 11th Super Bowl ring to the Owls'all-time collection.
Among the television audience of billions on Sunday willbe the six previous Owls who have first-hand knowledge of what it feels like toplay on Super Sunday. Six men who haveexperienced the wide range of emotions, the expectations and the aftermath ofplaying in the country's signature annual sporting spectacle and annually findtheir own experiences contrasted with those of each new group of participants.
In thedays leading up to Super Bowl XLIX, four of those six, Rodrigo Barnes, EarlCooper, Darryl Grant and Courtney Hall shared some thoughts on theirexperiences in the Super Bowl:
R BLOG: What comes to mind whenasked about being in a Super Bowl?
RODRIGOBARNES-OAKLAND RAIDERS SUPER BOWL XI CHAMPIONS
It's amazing how big it has become. It's become a global event now and with the internet,there are so many more kinds of coverage. The Super Bowl was more relaxed than the AFCChampionship game, because going into that game (AFC title game vs. Pittsburgh),we hadn't won anything yet. We playedeach week in the playoffs, it was a home game and Oakland had lost the lastfive AFC Championship games. But after we won, we had two weeks to get readyfor the Super Bowl. The Raiders were apretty laid back group with a lot of veterans who had been around for awhile. They took everything in strideand never let it be a problem.
EARL COOPER-SANFRANCISCO 49ERS SUPER BOWL XVI & XIX CHAMPIONS
Everything was much simpler then. ESPN was just starting out, and while itseemed like a lot of media, it was nothing like it is now.
DARRYL GRANT-WASHINGTONREDSKINS SUPER BOWL XVII & XXII CHAMPIONS, XVIII PARTICIPANT
My first year, no one expected us to beat Dallas. Everything was set up for the Cowboys to bethe team there. They came to Washingtonall packed and ready to move on to California to get ready for the game. When we first got out there (to Pasadena), our gear hadn't arrived and we worked out inblue and gray sweats. Everything wasfirst class that first year, but the next year (in Tampa) it was like someonewas trying to save money. We stayed at ahotel by the highway that was noisy and it took four hours to get room service. Then when they moved us to a different hotelfor game night, it was just to a motor lodge about two miles away. All the fans figured out where we were andmoved the tailgate party to right outside our rooms. When we were going back for the third time,the veterans got together with Coach (Joe) Gibbs and we made sure that thingswe be different than they were (in Tampa).
COURTNEY HALL-SANDIEGO CHARGERS SUPER BOWL XXIX PARTICIPANT
I don't know that I have a favorite memory. It's more remembering how the entire nationwas focused on the game and all the excitement leading up to the game. Our trainer at the time had been to two SuperBowls with the Redskins and he told us that even though it would be hard to do,we had to find the time to enjoy the experience because it easily could allbecome a blur. The key for anyone is ifyou can soak up the atmosphere of the week while maintaining your focus on the reasonyou are there.
To reach the Super Bowl is special for any player. Stan Brock had played in the league for 15years with the Saints and then with us for two, and he had a great career. But asgreat a career as it was, until that year he could never say he'd been to theSuper Bowl. Winning is obviously yourultimate goal, but the longer you play, you also come to understand howincredibly difficult it is to reach that point. Each team that reaches the Super Bowl is deserving of the honor thatcomes with the accomplishment.
R BLOG: Media Day has becomesuch an over-the-top day in terms of sideshows and distractions. How does that compare with your memories?
BARNES: Media Day for us wasn't much of aproblem. In those days, unless you wereconsidered the face of the team, you really didn't get scrutinized. The media might have been only interested intalking to maybe six or seven guys and the rest of us just hung around.
GRANT : Media day can be tedious because you havepeople asking you the same question over and over and we had to stay there aslong as anyone wanted us. The hardestpart was the international media, which was something new for me. You had to wait to have them ask thequestion, then have it translated for you, then you answered and it wastranslated back. It was prettyinteresting for me, but at the same time you had to keep reminding yourselfthat there was game to be played and you didn't want to say anything youropponents could use.
After my first one it was pretty easy to get ready for MediaDay since I knew what to expect.
If you are the underdog, all the media and attention aroundthe Super Bowl can really work to your advantage. I know in San Diego we gotreally annoyed being asked over and over and over about John Elway. It was never about us and many of us had beento two already. I'm sure it was the samefor the Raiders the year after we won and were the favorites. I am sure they were tired about hearing aboutplaying the defending champs. I wouldalways want to be the underdog in a Super Bowl.
COOPER: I am so glad I am not a part of what they gothrough now with all the social media out there. What peopletend to forget is that reaching the Super Bowl makes for a long season and themental and physical toll builds up. It takesa toll on you and I understand why some guys when they get to the Super Bowl wantto be left alone and focus on the game.
HALL: Most of Media Day was pretty tame forme. One thing I do remember about thatday was I was interviewed by a reporter from a small town in South Carolinawhere my Granddad lived. He lived inCameron and was 108 at the time. He wasbed ridden and could not read the paper. He was a veteran of World War I and had been born and raised in the deepsouth, right after the end of slavery. Now here was his grandson playing inthis game that touched every corner of the country and there was a story aboutme in his paper. When we went back forhis funeral the next year, that story was framed and hanging on the wall in hishouse.
R BLOG: Memorabilia is such abig part of the sporting world these days. Do you have any special keepsakes from the Super Bowl?
BARNES: I really don't have anything. Most of the stuff from that time I gave awayover the years to family and friends. Idonated a few things to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
GRANT: I really don't have anything from thegames. I have pictures and those arereally the best things to have.
COOPER: I should have kept my shoes, but at that time,I didn't think about such things. I keptwearing those shoes and eventually they wore out. I didn't know I was walking withgreatness. I didn't know that I had Hallof Fame teammates or that I was catching a famous touchdown pass. I didn't think that way at the time. The one thing I did was have all my teammatessign a poster at (second one), but it's all wrinkled up. A lot of it came down to when I left the NFL,I put that part of my life behind me.
My daughter is a senior in high school right now and she wasso excited to see some highlights from that first Super Bowl, including mytouchdown catch, but other than watching it with her, I've never really watchedold highlights. It was a great ride andit was nice to see her reaction, but as I said, I pretty much put those timesbehind me. It was a happy chapter in mylife, but I don't talk about it much these days.
HALL: No real special piece of memorabiliaspecifically from that game. From that year I have my jersey and my AFCChampionship ring, but that's about it.
R BLOG: As a Rice graduate,describe your reactions when you know that a fellow Owl will be back in theSuper Bowl this Sunday.
BARNES: I am veryproud of him. I don't really know any ofthe others (Owls who played in the Super Bowl), but we share the bond of havinggraduated from a great institution. Weare all Fighting Rice Owls.
GRANT: It's always an added treat to see an Owl inthe Super Bowl.
COOPER: I pump my fist whenever Luke makes a play,because I know what he's accomplished to have gone to Rice and then reached theleague. It's a great accomplishment andevery Owl who has played football knows what it took for him to reach thislevel.
When I first made it, I had many friends who had grown upCowboy fans and the games with the 49er's had so much on the line. M friends all had mixed emotion in thosegames because they also appreciated what I had done to graduate from Rice andbe playing on Sunday. Nobody expected it to happen, but I was always most proud of the fact that Icame from a small town, graduated from Rice, reached the NFL, played for SuperBowl Champions and then walked away on my own when I decided it was time.
HALL: When I watch NFLgames on television, I don't really root for any particular team, I root forindividuals, so this weekend is perfect. I can point with pride for everycontribution Luke makes on Sunday.