All things considered, this wasn’t anywhere close to the wildest of Super Bowl Media Days, but Monday night had its share of outtakes and soundbite-baiting questions nonetheless.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold relented to Jimmie Kimmel Live! personality Guillermo Rodriguez and put on an oversized ham headpiece while being uncomfortably serenaded with chants of “Ham for Sam!”
Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs was, of course, asked plenty of questions about his famous girlfriend Cardi B, including whether he planned to buy her an engagement ring if he won a Super Bowl ring this week.
What other way to set the stage for the biggest sporting event in the country, right?
Super Bowl Media Day — or “Super Bowl LX Opening Night,” as it was officially named by the NFL — is its own entity, though, and the sideshow element of it has long been embraced as a signature element of the event.
As are the bizarre and bad questions, like Diggs being asked if he planned to play next season (to which he looked painfully puzzled), Patriots coach Mike Vrabel being asked if the Super Bowl is a “must-win game” and Pats quarterback Drake Maye being asked if he’s “planning to win Sunday?”
But there is more to it than that.
These are the memorable moments and responses that stood out most from Monday night as the Patriots and Seahawks took their turns in the spotlight in San Jose.
Mike Macdonald Doesn’t Take The Bait
Of course, the way the last Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl ended is going to be a popular peripheral subplot all week leading up to Super Bowl LX — even if it was 11 years ago and no player from that game is involved in this one.
It is one of the most memorable Super Bowl finishes of all-time so, yes, it was going to come up at media day.
Everyone knows the story. The Seahawks, vying for a second straight Super Bowl championship, were down 28-24 as the clock ticked under 30 seconds after driving 79 yards to the Patriots’ 1. Time wasn’t an issue, though.
There was more than a minute left when Marshawn Lynch was tackled just shy of the goal line after a 4-yard run on first down. It only made sense to keep hammering “Beast Mode” Lynch up the middle until he scored.
But, as everybody knows, that’s not what happened.
The Seahawks called a pass play and Russell Wilson was intercepted at the goal line by Malcolm Butler in one of the most iconic plays in NFL history.
It is indeed rather fitting that the Seahawks’ first trip back to the Super Bowl since that moment comes against the Patriots again.
Well, several reporters had the same idea Monday night in asking Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald if he would choose to run or pass on second-and-goal from the 1-yard line down 4 points late in the fourth quarter.
He wasn’t going to take the bait, though.
“Best play available,” he answered the first time.
The second time the question came, Macdonald laughed and asked, “Is Beast Mode in the backfield?”
By the third time, he was understandably over it.
“I think the more important question is how many times am I going to get this question over the next three days?” Macdonald said.
And on the fourth attempt, Macdonald interjected and helped finish the reporter’s question for him.
“I don’t know, I mean, I’m kind of done answering this question,” he said.
Drake Maye Asked Which QB He Idolized … And His Response Was Notable
Tom Brady won a Super Bowl in his second season, launching what became the Patriots dynasty with he and coach Bill Belichick winning six rings in all (before Brady added a seventh in Tampa Bay).
Drake Maye has the Patriots in the Super Bowl in his second year as well, and with an elite coach in Mike Vrabel, there’s a prevailing feeling that this could be the start of another long championship window for New England.
So it was notable — not wrong in any way but certainly … notable — that when asked what quarterback he idolized growing up, Maye said Aaron Rodgers.
“Kind of the first thing that comes to mind as a young middle schooler who just fell in love with the position, would be Aaron Rodgers,” he said. “I was a big fan of Aaron Rodgers. I’ve got a chance to play him a few times, and just how he’s treated me — he reached out to me after the game. He’s such a special thrower of the football, he’s got so much swag, it’s different when you see him in warmups throwing the football.”
It’s interesting — again, nothing more — that Maye didn’t feel the need to at acknowledge Brady in that response somehow given the position he now holds trying to become the only QB aside from Brady to win a Super Bowl with the Patriots.
But for others, Maye’s response of Rodgers was notable for a different reason.
Cam Newton No Longer In Maye’s Good Graces?
Maye, who grew up in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area, has previously said former Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was his favorite player growing up. But Newton has been one of Maye’s few critics during what has been an MVP-caliber season for the QB, labeling him a “game manager” and not a “game-changer” while earlier in the season calling the Patriots’ success “Fool’s gold.”
Maye now saying that the quarterback who inspired him growing up was Rodgers — not Newton — is a nice subtle jab back at the former league MVP.
Meanwhile, going back to Brady, Maye did talk about his experiences meeting the Patriots’ legend.
“I’ve met Tom a few times, and one of the best things he said is ‘There’s no shortcuts to it. There’s no shortcuts to putting in the work,’ and the proof’s in the pudding. … He obviously showed that throughout his career,” Maye said.
Mack Hollins Being Mack Hollins
Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins wasn’t one of the team’s 10 players given his own riser and table, but all players are made available at media day and reporters found their way to New England’s quirky pass-catcher nonetheless.
To no surprise, Hollins showed up barefoot — it’s his thing — and he was happy to talk about anything except … football.
“No football, only fun questions on Mondays,” he said, according to FOX Sports reporter Eric Williams.
When asked by Williams what he plans to do with his life after football, Hollins said, “Probably in the woods, where I’m going to be after football, man. Go out in the sticks and go live life. Maybe regenerative agriculture. Have you ever seen the show ‘Alone’? Maybe something like that, going out to Alaska and being there. Or maybe I’d be a car salesman? Who knows. Really, whatever I felt like I wanted to do in life. I was told to just push as hard as I could, whoever you were. So, football happened to be the path I took. … Hopefully, I can play 100 more years.”
Sounds about right.
Mack Hollins Is All Parts Interesting
Hollins is an interesting storyline beyond his unorthodox character he projects for the cameras.
He’s playing for his fifth team in five years and sixth overall and yet having the second-best season of his career at 32 years old. He totaled 46 catches for 550 yards and 2 TDs in 15 regular-season games and led the Patriots with 51 receiving yards in the AFC championship game win over Denver (as Maye through for just 86 yards total with a blizzard taking over much of the second half.
“If you don’t perform, then you’re just like a guy who’s a weirdo,” Hollins said of himself.
‘Dark Side’ Defense Pays Respect To ‘Legion of Boom’
The Seahawks’ back-to-back Super Bowl appearances in the 2013-14 seasons were driven by the team’s fearsome “Legion of Boom” defense.
What started as a moniker for the team’s star-studded secondary led by the likes of Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor eventually came to represent the entire defense and other standouts like LBs Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright and DE Cliff Avril.
It’s only fitting that the Seahawks are now back in the Big Game thanks in large part to an elite defense again — one that’s given itself the nickname “The Dark Side.”
Monday night, “The Dark Side” paid its respects to its “Legion of Boom” predecessors.
“Listen, there’s one Legion of Boom. We know that. I think a lot of those guys are still around and we get a lot of inspiration from, but we’re not them,” safety Julian Love said. “The comparison is obviously it’s a great defense in Seattle — your mind goes to Legion of Boom. We know who we are, we’re different, we carry ourselves way different than those guys, those legends. And yeah, we’re just trying to create an identity for ourselves.”
“Once I got here, everything that you know about Seattle is defense, and when you put on those pads and you wear that Seahawks jersey and you’re on the defense, you want to mimic and be as close to the Legion of Boom as possible,” linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. “And in our own right, we’re doing our own thing, but having that stature to live up to, guys in that locker room we’ve lived up to it.”
