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Super Bowl Capsules: No gimmick as New York Giants arrive at Super Bowl
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Unlike four years ago when they dressed in black suits as a symbol of unity before facing the undefeated Patriots, the Giants returned to the Super Bowl this time with no sartorial gimmicks.
Touching down in Indianapolis for their rematch with New England on Sunday, the Giants are simply a confident team. They believe in themselves as much as they did in 2008 when they ruined the Patriots' perfect season with a stunning 17-14 victory in Arizona.
"We had no doubt," guard Chris Snee said Monday, referring to the Giants' feelings four years ago. "You have to be a confident team when you get on the plane. You reach this game for a reason. It's not by chance. You have to be confident coming out here."
The Giants tried to demonstrate that four years ago with their all-black attire. This year, Justin Tuck left his black suit in the cleaners. Attire was a personal choice.
If there is a difference this time it's not the way the Giants feel. It's the feeling about them.
If they win, no one will be surprised. They beat the Patriots in the regular season and they come to Indianapolis with almost as much momentum as New England, which won 10 in a row.
The streak for Eli Manning and company is only five, but the Giants seem to be getting better each week. Tuck insisted that teams don't get to this point in the season without believing in themselves.
"It can be misunderstood for cockiness, and whatever else," Tuck said. "But at the end of the day, when we step on that football field, we believe we are going to win that football game. If you ask any athlete and he tells you anything different, then there is something wrong."
Safety Antrel Rolle was his usual self when asked about being confident.
"I mean, we wouldn't have boarded the plane if we didn't expect to win," said Rolle, who lost a Super Bowl in February, 2009 while playing for Arizona against the Steelers. "I think that is the bottom line. We have come here for one thing and one thing only which is to win. We are expecting to win this game come Sunday."
The Patriots (15-3) certainly understand how the Giants feel. They feel the same way.
"Listen, this is the last game of the season. I'm pretty sure that the Giants want to win and we want to win, point blank," defensive tackle Vince WIlfork said. "You have two good football teams who don't want to walk away with an 'L'. Both sides are going to have to play really good football and not give up anything cheap. Trust me, we're not the only ones that feel that we want to win this ballgame. They're sitting over there saying the same thing. This is the last game, and the biggest game of your career. This is what you play for."
The Giants (12-7) had a much different send off than the Patriots, who arrived Sunday after attending a rally in Foxborough, Mass., that drew 25,000 people.
Coach Tom Coughlin's Giants left from team headquarters in the Meadowlands around 11:30 a.m. There was no rally and only a few extra fans showed up to wave goodbye.
Before leaving, the team held what is a normal Saturday walkthrough and left at the same time they would normally leave for a road game.
The short flight was uneventful. It was quiet and the players either watched a movie or slept, Snee said.
"You get off and you know you are at the Super Bowl," Snee said. "The media is there and there is a small red carpet. It's exciting."
Manning said the rest of the week is a time to focus.
"When you feel you have a good team or players and an opportunity to go win a championship, you don't want to let those slip away," said Manning, the Super Bowl MVP of the Giant's win over the Patriots four years ago.
S Rolle, the Giants voice of discontent
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Antrel Rolle is the voice of discontent on the New York Giants.
If the veteran safety isn't happy with the way things are going, he doesn't hesitate to mouth off. It's put him at odds with coach Tom Coughlin at times.
It's also one of the reasons the Giants are back in the Super Bowl and facing the New England Patriots for the NFL title for the second time in four years.
Rolle's frustration after a 23-10 loss to the Washington Redskins on Dec. 18 might have been the spark the Giants (12-7) needed to turn their season around.
Rolle didn't rip anyone after the lackluster game, which left New York with a 7-7 record, but he did say injured players needed to stop babying themselves and, basically, get back to work.
"I can't stress what I felt at that particular point in time," Rolle said Monday. "I know I am not happy about what is being said and I know who I am as a person."
He spoke up and got his point across. It's not the first time. A year ago, he seemed to question the Giants' leadership on defense, taking a swipe at Justin Tuck.
Coughlin stepped in and asked Rolle to talk to him before taking his case to the media.
Rolle broke etiquette after the Washington game, but his words were appreciated.
"You don't want to be labeled as a guy who is a cancer in the locker room or a guy who is a big mouth," Rolle said, noting his mother has always chided him for saying too much. "I am like: 'Mom, I hear you.' But I don't look at the beginning of the tunnel. I look at the end of the tunnel. I know what I am saying. I would never speak anything that is not meaningful and that I feel cannot help my teammates. It's never been about me."
Rolle insists he is a team player, doing whatever his coaches want without missing a practice.
"When you hear all the talk that he is a big mouth, he's this or that, it's tough. It's extremely tough knowing that you are not that person," Rolle said. "The way things come up, I can't blame people for saying that, but I also understand why I am saying it and what's the reason behind it."
The Giants haven't said how they will employ Rolle on Sunday against Tom Brady and the Patriots. In the 24-20 win over New England on Nov. 6, New York used a lot of three-safety alignments to handle the Patriots' two tight ends.
Rolle had the job of shadowing Wes Welker, who was held without a touchdown despite having a team-high 136 yards receiving.
"I am very pleased with his attitude, first of all, with his outlook, because he is a very bubbly, smiley guy and he has really fit very well with our other players," Coughlin said.
Rolle comes into this Super Bowl with a little unfinished business. He was a member of the Arizona Cardinals team that dropped a 27-23 decision to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl in 2009.
"I can tell you right now, there's not too many feelings that can feel worse than that," Rolle said. "To be so close and have a hard-fought game, I think that eased the pain a little bit as opposed to going there and just getting your butt whooped. But I definitely don't want to feel that again."
The Giants arrived in Indianapolis on Monday a confident team, one that believes it can knock off New England again.
"We had no doubt," guard Chris Snee said, referring back to that game. "You have to be a confident team when you get on the plane. You reach this game for a reason. It's not by chance. You have to be confident coming out here."
Asked about his own confidence, Rolle said: "I mean, we wouldn't have boarded the plane if we didn't expect to win. I think that is the bottom line. We have come here for one thing and one thing only which is to win. We are expecting to win this game come Sunday."
The Patriots (15-3) feel the same way.
"Listen, this is the last game of the season. I'm pretty sure that the Giants want to win and we want to win, point blank," defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. "You have two good football teams who don't want to walk away with an 'L'. Both sides are going to have to play really good football and not give up anything cheap. Trust me, we're not the only ones that feel that we want to win this ballgame. They're sitting over there saying the same thing. This is the last game, and the biggest game of your career. This is what you play for."
-- Tom Canavan
WR Branch looking for wins, not attention
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — He plays offense. He's won at least two Super Bowls, and he was the MVP the last time the Patriots won the NFL championship. Know who it is?
"I'd have to say Tom," New England safety Patrick Chung said Monday. Nope, not Tom Brady.
The same question seemed to stump running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis for a few seconds, too. Then he said it's really not important who got the honor in a game where the biggest reward is the Vince Lombardi Trophy that goes to the NFL champion.
"To me, MVPs don't matter," he said. "The only thing that really matters is us going out there and performing well."
And it doesn't matter to Deion Branch, either. He was the Super Bowl MVP when the Patriots beat the Eagles 24-21 seven years ago for their third championship in four years. He's been overlooked a bit this season, with Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez grabbing most of Brady's passes and the headlines.
"That's cool," said Branch, who has that MVP trophy stored safely in a glass case at his home. "I just do my job. I can't worry about who's controlling it and who's saying A, B, C, D. I just do my job I'm not here to be the one that (says), 'Hey I need all the attention.' That's not me."
His contribution doesn't escape the discriminating eye of coach Bill Belichick as he prepares his team for the Super Bowl against the New York Giants on Sunday.
"I couldn't imagine anybody on the team not thinking that Deion Branch has a tremendous importance to our football team," Belichick said. "I don't care if they play offense, defense or wash the towels."
Brady was MVP of the Patriots first two Super Bowl wins in 2002 and 2004. Then he threw for two touchdowns among his 23 completions in their next championship game.
But it was Branch, who caught nearly half of them, who was MVP after tying a Super Bowl record with 11 receptions.
Then, after one more season, he was gone, traded during a contract dispute after the opening game of the 2006 season to Seattle for a draft choice. Brady was devastated to lose his friend and the receiver who could adjust his planned route with just a pre-snap glance from his quarterback.
Then he felt much better when Branch made the cross-country trip back for a reunion.
The Patriots obtained Branch in a trade on Oct. 12, 2010 for a fourth-round draft choice to replace Randy Moss, who was traded to Minnesota. Branch had 48 catches in 11 games with New England last season and another 51 in 15 games this season.
But Welker led the NFL with 122 receptions, Gronkowski set a league single-season record for tight ends with 17 touchdown catches and Hernandez, a tight end versatile enough to make big plays at wide receiver and running back, had 79 receptions.
Welker has caught at least 111 passes in four of his five years with the Patriots. Gronkowski and Hernandez, fun-loving second-year pros, are revolutionizing the tight end position historically known for players who block well and occasionally break away for long gains.
Branch, simply, just produces in the shadows of those stars.
"It's easy to overlook a guy like him in their offense because they're so tight-end focused and those are the guys who are scoring touchdowns," Giants linebacker Matthias Kiwanuka said, "but he obviously creates matchup problems. If you want to assign your best corner to a Wes Welker or somebody else, or you want to put your safety down on a tight end, then (Branch) is going to create an issue for you, but we have the personnel to get it done."
Branch is a solid blocker for his size and a precise route runner who can adjust on the fly. And he can make the big play. In a 45-10 divisional playoff win over Denver, he caught a 61-yard touchdown pass.
"I don't know how many guys make that play for us," Belichick said.
It's the kind of play the Giants will try to prevent.
"People who actually play against him, they understand how good Deion is," New York safety Antrel Rolle said. "Deion is a veteran of this league. He understands all the tricks to this game and, most of all, he's great for their system. He fits their system extremely well. So I think Deion definitely gets his due, maybe not in the media or in the press, but within this team as an organization I feel he definitely gets his due."
Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said a player's contribution in each game depends on what offensive or defensive packages a team uses. It could emphasize the tight ends or Welker or even the running game.
And, on Sunday, maybe even Branch.
"You never know," Wilfork said. "He might have another MVP game."
-- Howard Ulman
Tight end Gronkowski misses Patriots practice
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski did not practice Monday because of his high left ankle sprain.
Gronkowski suffered the sprain during the third quarter of the Patriots' 23-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship in Foxborough, Mass. Gronkowski, who has not practiced since the injury, has 15 catches for 232 yards and three touchdowns this postseason. Coach Bill Belichick said on Sunday that Gronkowski would be day to day.
Monday's practice was New England's first in Indianapolis, as the Patriots prepare for Sunday's Super Bowl against the New York Giants.
Game Capsules
Giants vs. Patriots II: Does No. 2008 matter?
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — That was then. This is now.
That's what players on the Giants and Patriots are saying about their previous Super Bowl meeting, New York's 17-14 stunner over the then-unbeaten Patriots four years ago.
To hear them talk, it has little or no relevance to Sunday's matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium.
' Honestly, for us, that '07 thing was kind of like us coming together as a football team," defensive end Justin Tuck said Monday when the NFC champions arrived in Indy. "We just said we wanted to kill a dynasty, and that's what they were. But now, we've been here before and we felt as though all that is secondary. We just want to come in here and have our mind focused on playing a great football game, and not really getting caught up in all the hoopla around the game."
Or the hoopla still attached the 2007 NFL championship. Replays of David Tyree's incredible ball-against-helmet catch or Plaxico Burress' winning TD reception in the final minute seem to be shown around the clock — along with the Giants sacking Tom Brady five times.
The Giants (12-7) might need to replicate that performance to stop New England (15-3) from winning its fourth Super Bowl under Bill Belichick and Brady at quarterback.
"We had a lot of hits on him," Tuck said. "Even when we didn't hit him, he didn't have the time to sit back there and allow some of the routes to develop. We know that as a D-line, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make sure that we are in his face. He is a hell of a quarterback, and he is going to do a lot of things to throw us off our rhythm.
"You are going to get your shots because they are an explosive offense and they like to take shots downfield, too. We are going to have our chances, and we just are going to have to do a great job of taking advantage of them."
New England didn't take advantage in that Super Bowl, the last time both teams got this far. Dredging up what went wrong not only is painful but, the Patriots say, it's useless.
"Every time you get to this level, it's a special level. You have to enjoy it," defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. "This is something that is going to stick with you for the rest of your life. 2007 was 2007, now we're in 2012. Both teams are different. I don't think we're looking for revenge."
Belichick is playing down that angle, too — even if some believe he's constantly reminding his players that the Giants not only beat them in the Super Bowl four years back, but beat them at home in November.
"I've been asked about that game for several days now. All of the games in the past really don't mean that much at this point," said Belichick, 3-1 in NFL championship games. "This game is about this team this year. There aren't really a lot of us coaches and players who were involved in that game, and very few players, in relative terms, between both teams. We are where we are now, and we're different than where we were earlier in the season. The Giants are where they are now, and I think they're different than where they were at different points of the season. To take it back years and years before that, I don't think it has too much bearing on anything."
-- Barry Wilner
Indy battens down hatches for Super Bowl security
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — From pickpockets and prostitutes to dirty bombs and exploding manhole covers, authorities are bracing for whatever threat the first Super Bowl in downtown Indianapolis might bring.
Some — nuclear terrorism, for instance — are likely to remain just hypothetical. But others, like thieves and wayward manhole covers, are all too real.
Though Indianapolis has ample experience hosting large sporting events — the Indianapolis 500 attracts more than 200,000 fans each year, and the NCAA's men's Final Four basketball tournament has been held here six times since 1980— the city's first Super Bowl poses some unique challenges.
Unlike the Final Four, which is compressed into a weekend, the Super Bowl offers crowd, travel and other logistical challenges over 10 days leading up to the Feb. 5 game. And unlike the 500, where events are largely concentrated at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway about seven miles from Lucas Oil Stadium, the NFL's showcase event will consume 44 blocks — about a mile square — in the heart of the city, closing off streets and forcing an anticipated 150,000 or more NFL fans to jockey with downtown workers for space much of the week.
"This is clearly bigger in terms of the amount of people who will be downtown over an extended period of time," city Public Safety Director Frank Straub said.
Under a security risk rating system used by the federal government, the Super Bowl ranks just below national security events involving the president and the Secret Service, said Indianapolis Chief of Homeland Security Gary Coons. The ratings are based on factors including international attention, media coverage, the number of people the event attracts and visits by celebrities and foreign dignitaries, he said. The Indianapolis 500 ranks two levels below the Super Bowl.
The city has invested millions of dollars and worked with local, state and federal agencies to try to keep all those people safe. Up to 1,000 city police officers will be in the stadium and on the street, carrying smartphones and other electronic hand-held devices that will enable them to feed photos and video to a new state-of-the-art operations center on the city's east side or to cruisers driven by officers providing backup, Straub said. Hundreds of officers from other agencies, including the state police and the FBI, will be scanning the crowd for signs of pickpocketing, prostitution or other trouble.
One concern has been a series of explosions in Indianapolis Power & Light's underground network of utility cables. A dozen underground explosions have occurred since 2005, sending manhole covers flying.
Eight explosions have occurred since 2010. The latest, on Nov. 19, turned a manhole cover into a projectile that heavily damaged a parked car and raised concerns about the safety of Super Bowl visitors walking on streets and soaring above the Super Bowl village on four zip lines installed for the festivities.
Since December, IPL has spent about $180,000 to install 150 new locking manhole covers, primarily in the Super Bowl village and other areas expected to see high pre-game traffic.
IPL officials say the new Swiveloc manhole covers can be locked for security reasons during the Super Bowl. In case of an explosion, the covers lift a couple of inches off the ground — enough to vent gas out without feeding in oxygen to make an explosion bigger — before falling back into place.
An Atlanta consultant hired by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission last summer to audit IPL's underground network of cables for a cause of the explosions says the new covers are merely a Band-Aid.
"We've argued it's better to prevent," said Dan O'Neill of O'Neill Management Consulting, which filed its report in December.
O'Neill's team couldn't pinpoint an exact cause for the explosions but said a flawed inspection process contributed, noting that IPL workers missed warning signs such as road salt corroding an old cable or leaks in nearby steam pipes. In a report filed Jan. 19 with Indiana utility regulators, the power company said it had overhauled its inspection process.
IPL will dispatch extra crews to the area around the stadium in case of power-related problems, such as a recent breaker fire that left 10,000 customers in homes south of downtown without power. Spokeswoman Crystal Livers-Powers said the company doesn't anticipate any power issues.
Straub, the public safety director, said he's confident the city is prepared and notes that Indianapolis hosts major events "pretty regularly."
Special teams from the Department of Energy will sweep Lucas Oil Stadium and the surrounding area for nuclear terror threats, and a new $18 million high-tech communications center that opened in time for the lead-up to the game will tie it all together.
''We're using more technology, and state of the art technology, than has been used in any Super Bowl before this one," Straub said.
-- Charles Wilson and Carrie Schedler
Super Bowl week begins, ice and snow no-shows
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Patriots coach Bill Belichick could leave his familiar hoodies in the hotel drawer. There was no need to bundle up for the start of only the fourth Super Bowl week in a northern city.
Ice and snow? Notable no-shows.
Fans threw open their jackets as they walked around downtown streets near Lucas Oil Stadium on Monday, hoping to get a glimpse of a celebrity in town for the game between New England and the New York Giants. Temperatures in the mid-to-upper 50s were forecast for the start of the week, well above normal.
The sunshine felt so good that it made for a joke or two.
"I know the way we're preparing and the way we've controlled the weather, which is hard to do," Colts owner Jim Irsay said, smiling. "But we've had certain techniques that were going to keep hidden, and I hope they hold."
Already, it's way better than Dallas.
Weather is a major concern when the title game goes north, but some of the biggest problems came down south last year. Snow and 100 hours of sub-freezing temperatures snarled traffic and led to injuries when an icy patch fell off the stadium roof and hit six workers.
Indianapolis watched and prepared.
"You can have anything in Indiana," Super Bowl Host Committee spokeswoman Mel Raines said. "Our plan is intended for everything."
In its first three times at a northern exposure, the NFL's title game has experienced a little of everything.
The ground-breaking game came after the 1981 season in Detroit, a test of whether it would work outside the sunny climes of Florida, New Orleans, Texas and California. The week leading up to the game between the Bengals and 49ers included bursts of snow culminating in nasty conditions for game day.
Bored players passed the time that week by spinning their tires on the ice-covered hotel parking lot for fun.
"I think the biggest challenge was for guys not to get bored to tears," former Bengals offensive lineman Dave Lapham said. "We kind of felt cooped up, really. Guys talked about: What are we going to do? Ski? Ice skate? You could strap on skates and skate on the streets. There was nothing do to."
Traffic heading to the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich., on game day got clogged by another burst of snow. Fans braved temperatures of 13 degrees and a wind chill of 21 below. After that experience, there was talk that the league would never venture north again for a Super Bowl.
"I thought they'd stick to it, honestly," said Lapham, now a broadcaster for the Bengals. "But with the dynamic of people putting up more money for stadiums, they're going to reward communities."
Ten years later, the Bills and Redskins played for the title in Minneapolis, where the ground was covered with snow but the region handled it much more smoothly.
Then, the cold became a selling point for some Redskins players. Earnest Byner, Art Monk, Monte Coleman and Chip Lohmiller went ice fishing on Cedar Lake in 30-below wind chills. Byner caught a 4-inch perch using a wax worm.
The game returned to Detroit after the 2005 season and things went much more smoothly despite a little snow on game day, when the Steelers beat the Seahawks.
Last year's game in Dallas became an unexpected reminder of what can go wrong in winter, no matter where the location.
A snowstorm and 100 consecutive hours of subfreezing temperatures turned the Dallas area into an ice rink. Snow and ice fell from the roof of Cowboys Stadium, injuring six workers on the plaza below. Organizers had spread events around a 30-mile area to emphasize the regional support for the game, creating major travel problems when the weather went bad.
Indianapolis has done it differently.
Most of the Super Bowl events are clustered downtown, minimizing travel. Temporary structures for the Super Bowl festivities were fitted with wind gauges for safety. On Sunday, two tents at an NFL fan exhibit were closed for about an hour because of high winds.
The roof of Lucas Oil Stadium is designed to collect and melt any falling ice to prevent what happened in Dallas.
The city removed parking meters from high-traffic streets downtown so snow could be easily pushed away. Twenty-four snow removal trucks were on call for the game, four times the normal amount. The host committee recruited "Super Shoveler" volunteers to help clear sidewalks if it snowed.
In some ways, it's a warm-up act for the first true cold-weather title game. The 2014 Super Bowl will be co-hosted by New York and New Jersey, played outdoors instead of in a dome during the middle of winter.
The logo for that game? A blue-and-white snowflake.
-- Joe Kay
Irsay hopes to halt Manning talk during Super Bowl
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jim Irsay did his own politicking Monday.
Instead of talking about Peyton Manning and the franchise quarterback's future in Indianapolis, the Colts owner quickly tossed the football to a real politician.
"When I was asked about Peyton, I was going to say why don't you ask Mitch (Daniels) about his presidential run? Any comments Mitch?" Irsay said drawing laughter as he turned to the Indiana governor.
Irsay's diversionary tactic didn't work. With the Manning-Irsay spat still dominating talk around town, Irsay tried to deflect attention away from this week's biggest distraction and put the focus squarely back on the Super Bowl matching the New York Giants against the New England Patriots.
"I'm not talking about Peyton this week," Irsay said as more than a dozen reporters followed him through the media center's hallways. "When Peyton and I talked (last week), we both thought the focus should be on the Super Bowl. We want to focus on the Super Bowl."
Good luck. Yes, getting the game in Indy was a major coup for Irsay, who pushed the city to bid twice for the big game and lobbied fellow owners to give his home city its first Super Bowl.
But as the world turns in Indianapolis, Super Bowl week just happens to come at the most tumultuous time in Indy's ongoing soap opera.
Since finishing 2-14 and earning the first pick in April's draft, Irsay has fired vice chairman Bill Polian, general manager Chris Polian, coach Jim Caldwell and most of Caldwell's assistants. He's hired 39-year-old Ryan Grigson as the new general manager and former Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano as his new coach.
Last week, after Manning went public with his complaints about the dour atmosphere at the team's complex, Irsay retorted with his own public rant -- calling Manning a "politician" and contending he had been "campaigning."
The two tried to put an end to the spat Friday by issuing a joint statement that essentially said they had spoken and reconciled.
It didn't slow the speculation about Manning's future. The September neck surgery that forced Manning to miss the season was his third in 19 months.
Irsay has indicated he won't risk Manning's long-term future by putting an unhealthy quarterback on the field, and even Manning's old friends seem to be concerned about his health.
"It would be hard to get healthy and prove he's healthy before March," former tight end Ken Dilger said referring to the deadline for Indy to pay Manning a $28 million roster bonus or risk losing him as a free agent. "It's going to be hard, really hard."
Daniels and Indy Mayor Greg Ballard both got caught up in the discussion, too, though they managed to stay away from discussing Manning's plans.
"To have Peyton Manning be the caring guy that he is, we are so have lucky to have him, and we are so lucky to have Jim Irsay as an owner," Ballard said. "How all this plays out doesn't really matter to me."
And Irsay contends there's time to discuss all that -- after the Super Bowl.
"Peyton is everything you dream about as an owner, getting that type of player," Irsay said. "I have just been so blessed with all that he's done for this franchise."
-- Michael Marot
Notebook: Indy leaders hope first Super Bowl isn't last
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Super Bowl is still nearly a week away and city leaders already are looking ahead. Sunday's big game will be the first for Indy, and Mayor Greg Ballard believes there should be more.
"I do think the regular cycle of four-to-five years for some of the other cities may not be the way to go, but for a city like us with a great volunteer base and a great community support, I think every eight-to-10 years is doable," he said. "I think we can get on a regular rotation."
Ballard said he wouldn't rush it.
"I was kidding when I told the host committee that I was going to give them a week to rest, then we're going to go for it again."
Colts owner Jim Irsay is excited about the chance to show off the city.
"I think that we're going to be able to show the world and everyone that we're deserving for a second chance someday down the line," he said. "I really do. I think that's the type of job that we're going to do here, and the experience is going to be great."
Though the Colts finished 2-14 this season, that hasn't shaken Irsay's desire to make the event special.
"This isn't about the Colts, this is about Indianapolis, this is about Indiana," he said.
FAMILY TIES: Patriots receiver Matt Slater knows better than to take a Super Bowl trip for granted.
His father, Jackie Slater, was an offensive lineman for the Los Angeles Rams who played in the Super Bowl after the 1979 season. The Rams lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Jackie Slater never went back to a Super Bowl in a Hall of Fame career that lasted until 1995.
"I think that was one of the biggest things that he kind of missed on his career is he never won a world championship," Matt Slater said. "I knew how much that meant to him because he was a huge team guy."
Dad already has offered son some advice about handling the pressure in the week leading up to the game.
"He told me just to do everything I can to prepare myself for the game on Sunday so that I can live with no regrets," the fourth-year player from UCLA said. "And realizing that this opportunity is not guaranteed to me in my career again, so just to do everything I can to take advantage of the opportunity and maximize it so, at the end of the day, I have no regrets at all."
Matt Slater wasn't around when his father played in the Super Bowl — he was born in 1985 — but Jackie's vivid memories have connected Matt to the experience.
"Even to this day, he talks about the game, and he can almost call off every play to you and just remember the ebb and flow of the game," Matt Slater said. "It meant a lot to him. Unfortunately it didn't work out for him, but it's definitely a memory he has and will have as long as he lives."
SUPER SCARVES: The Super Bowl host committee got more than expected out of a simple attempt to look out for its volunteers.
Host committee CEO Allison Melangton started the Super Scarves project two years ago to give Indiana residents a chance to make scarves that would help volunteers stay warm during a typically cold time of the year.
The project expanded, and now the committee has received blue and white scarves from 46 states and four countries. The goal was to have 8,000 scarves available, but eventually, the host committee received about 13,000.
The scarves got attention on a TV episode of ABC's "The Middle."
"I guess you've arrived when a national sitcom makes fun of something you're doing," Melangton said.
Each scarf identified who knitted or croqueted it and included a message of encouragement for the wearer.
"It was her idea," Mark Miles, chairman of the host committee, said. "I thought it couldn't have been more hair-brained, and it couldn't have been more brilliant."
HOME COOKING: Mathias Kiwanuka might take a few teammates to his mother's home for dinner this week. He can't take all of them.
"I don't know if I could fit that many people into her house," the New York Giants defensive end said Monday after arriving in Indianapolis.
Kiwanuka, the defensive end who attended Cathedral High School in Indy, is keeping things simple. He'll eat mom's food, go to bed on time and try to add another Super Bowl ring to the one he won four years ago.
As for all those Super Bowl parties in his hometown, Kiwanuka's advice: There's plenty of time to attend those after Sunday's big game against New England.
MJD REPLACES OCHO: The Ochocinco News Network will be reporting from the Super Bowl even if its namesake, wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, is a participant when the Patriots play the New York Giants on Sunday.
Since New England coach Bill Belichick isn't likely to spring Ochocinco for any broadcast duties, he'll be replaced by Jacksonville Jaguars All-Pro running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who has a background in radio reporting for SiriusXM NFL Radio.
The wide receiver created OCNN three years ago and has built a social media network that serves an audience of about 1 million, the network says.
"MJD is the right guy to take on this task, and I have all the confidence in the world in him," Ochocinco said.
- -Cliff Brunt
