The Super Bowl is back in the Bay Area for the first time since 2016, and it is back bigger than ever. Thousands packed the San Jose Convention Center for Opening Night, with the crowd consisting largely of credentialed media. Journalists, reporters, television personalities and social media influencers roamed the venue as the players and coaches of both the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks were available for interviews.
The Monday evening ceremony kicked off a week filled with events catered to the media and the public leading up to America’s biggest sporting event of the year. Putting aside the excitement of Sunday’s big game, many of the players, particularly those coming from New England, were ecstatic to be away from the cold weather.
“Just getting off the plane and not being in the negative degrees, it’s honestly refreshing,” said Patriots linebacker Harold Landry. “I feel like it has been so long since we have been in 60-degree weather.”
Landry has been enjoying the Stanford sunshine as the Patriots began practicing at The Farm on Monday. As the sun set on Monday, hundreds of fans lined up at the convention center hoping to get a glimpse of their favorite player. The night kicked off with Scott Hanson, the host of NFL RedZone, setting the stage for New England’s one-hour window with the media.
“Looking for a record-breaking seventh Super Bowl victory, please welcome the AFC Champion New England Patriots,” said Hanson as the team took the stage to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train.”
The AFC Champions, donning fashionable Nike Techs, were then surrounded by the press. The more popular players, including quarterback Drake Maye and wide receiver Stefon Diggs, had their own designated press booths.
The Daily’s own Joanne dePierre ’25 M.A. ’26 interviewed New England’s tight end Austin Hooper ’17, who is the only Stanford alum participating in this year’s Super Bowl. A conversation with Hooper was a hot commodity among local reporters, given his Bay Area roots.
After the Patriots obliged in their one-hour media session, the Seattle Seahawks followed with the same format. Countless interviews, wide-ranging in nature, took place throughout the night. Of course, reporters were asking the traditional questions about game plan, but reporters also asked the more hard-hitting questions.
“Does Lightning McQueen have car insurance or life insurance?” asked a reporter to Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Smith-Njigba, through laughter, answered adamantly, “Car insurance.”
One of the best in the business at bringing the fun to press conferences was in attendance Monday night. Guillermo Rodriguez, a comedian best known as Jimmy Kimmel’s sidekick on his late-night program, brought his light-hearted antics to Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold’s booth. Rodriguez presented Darnold with a foam ham hat and an accompanying poster that read, “Ham for Sam.” Smith-Njigba was lucky enough to be gifted a “Ham for Sam” shirt from Rodriguez.
The entertainment came to an end after the 60-minute period with the Seahawks. The opening night ceremony was the last, and only, time to see both teams together at the same venue until the Super Bowl.
Although the players and coaches have a few other media obligations throughout the next few days, the focus now shifts to practice. The Seahawks will be training at San Jose State University while the Patriots prepare for Sunday at Stanford Stadium.