Colts defensive lineman Darrell Reid and I grew up together in Freehold, New Jersey. Like me, Darrell was raised on going to Jersey Freeze for ice cream, Federicci's for pizza, and playing in the Kuhnert Classic every Christmas break.
When we were in eighth grade, Reid, myself, and former Penn All-Ivy star Tim Begley made up the most feared front line in Monmouth County "traveling basketball" history. Tim's now playing professionally in Europe. Darrell's four days away from the Super Bowl. And me? Well, I'm 250 pounds and upset that I forgot to DVR this week's episode of The Hills.
When I spot Reid, he's being interviewed by what appears to be a Maxim-like radio show. All I hear out of his mouth is this:
"Ah, it's either too big, or too thin. One of the other. But you know—it's not the size of the boat, it's the motion in the ocean."
Terrific.
I greet Reid and it's one of those big hug ordeals. There was a time when I could do a Mikan move in the post on him. Now, his hand is twice the size of my head.
Great stuff.
We do the small talk, and all that—and then move on to the pressing questions:
1. Biggest Freehold, New Jersey legend ever?
"Gotta go with Bruce Springsteen. It's the Boss. I'll need to make a bunch more Super Bowls before I get up to that status."
2. With you (Freehold, NJ) and Klecko (Marlboro, NJ), Jim Nantz (Marlboro, NJ) and Bonnie Bernstein (Howell, NJ) all integral parts of this year's Super Bowl—is this Monmouth County's biggest Super Bowl ever?
(Laughs) "Jersey shore, baby. Freehold!"
3. You're 300 pounds and playing special teams…What's up with that?
"I'll do whatever they need me to do. And I'm not 300 pounds. It's the white in our jersey. Makes me look fat."
4. Whatever happened to Ron, the point guard on our 8th grade traveling basketball team?
"Ronny's a professional poker player in Atlantic City now!"
Wonderful news.
And there you have it.
A great Jersey reunion and the end to another wacky media day.
-- Colts receiver John Standeford was Bears quarterback Kyle Orton's main target at Purdue. To this day, Standeford holds the Big Ten record for receiving yards in a career. So, do he and Orton still talk regularly?
"Nope. Not much at all, really."
Why's that?
"I think he changed his phone number."
It's sad when college friends lose touch.
-- Orton was the subject in a conversation I had with Colts guard Jake Scott. Scott, a third year guy out of Idaho, has an absolutely horrific beard growing. Was his better than the Bears third string quarterback's?
"I haven't seen his. But I like mine."
Superstition or laziness?
"Laziness, I guess. But I really like it. A lot."
Note to self: Jake Scott really likes his horrific beard.
-- I try another question at Warren Sapp—this time about Booger McFarland. He cold shoulders me again. As if I don't even exist. Not loving Warren Sapp right now. And to think, I once practiced his dumb touchdown dance from a few years back in a mirror. Regrets, I've had a few.
-- Terrence Wilkins is one of the best kick returners in the game. I ask him if he grew up a fan of Mel Gray.
"Who's Mel Gray?"
I give him a few details on the Lions kick returning great. Then I ask which kick returner he did grow up watching—and if he looked to any in particular. "Deion Sanders, maybe?"
Andre "Bad Moon" Rison's here for Spike TV's Pros vs. Joes program. I tried asking him a question about the Super Bowl ring he won with the Packers. He was talking about his golf game with some older gentleman. I waited. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. Twenty minutes. Still waiting. After trying several times to sneak a question in, he mentioned something about a birdie or a putt. I finally walked away. Rison, apparently, has a bunch of really interesting golf stories.
-- Colts special teams star Matt Giordano plays with Peyton Manning every day. But guess who else he's impressed with:
"Jack Bauer, man. Look at what that guy has done. Think about it. He's in a Chinese prison being tortured for eleven months. And what's he do? Within three hours, he's saving the world, avoiding nuclear attacks, and killing potential terrorists. Bauer's the man."
Giordano's a former Cal Bear. His thoughts on Brett Favre's heir apparent—former teammate Aaron Rodgers?
"A-Rod's incredible. I've got much respect for him. We played together for two years, and against each other in JuCo. He's very talented. He's a great quarterback, and a tremendous leader." Rest easy, Packer fans.
-- Keith O'Neill, a Colts reserve linebacker, is sporting an interesting mohawk this week. Was he inspired by a certain rap mogul? I went ahead and asked him.
"I had no idea P-Diddy once had a mohawk. No one ever told me that."
Do his teammates razz him for it?
"No. No they don't."
(Silence…) Thanks for the riveting interview, Keith.
-- The Spanish Speaking Hand Puppet is here! Phew! I was scared he wouldn't show. Working for a network called Television Deportes, the a hand with two eye balls on its knuckles asked Booger McFarland if he (McFarland) thought the puppet could be the next NFL mascot:
"Nah," answered McFarland, "You're just not marketable."
(LOL's all over from the media)
I asked McFarland what it was like playing alongside the Warren Sapps, Derek Brookses, and John Lynches of the world in Tampa. He begins his response by saying all the right things, "Great mentors"; "Hard workers"; "Tremendous leaders" … Then Michael Strahan comes over all smiles, with a microphone in his hand, working for Best Damn Sports Show, and Booger suddenly gets all giggly, "And you know—all that hard work—I apply that to both footall…and my golf game, where I'm better than Michael Strahan!" Hugs, laughs, and a strange ending to what I thought was going to be a good response to a smart question. Thanks, Strahan!
-- Ug, the American Idol kids are at it again. One just sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for about 30 white middle-aged men with microphones and cameras. Creepy. Weird.
Dan Klecko is apparently not content to have caught a touchdown pass in the AFC title game.
The Colts defensive lineman has big plans for an encore performance in the Super Bowl.
"I want to run a Go Route," Klecko said. "Just send me long. Just once."
On a more serious note, Klecko also discussed what it was like growing up with a key member of the Jets' New York Sack Exchange defensive line as a father -- Joe Klecko.
"Hey, to me, he was just always Dad," Klecko said. As a kid, I didn't really understand it. Then, as I got older, I realized how special it was to have a father be an NFL player."
You might think a third-string quarterback wouldn't be much of a factor in an AFC-title winning season.
But Josh Betts does apparently play a very important role with the Colts.
"I'm Peyton’s errand boy, man."
So what exactly does that entail?
"I make a smoothie for him every night," Betts said. "I get his Gatorade for him on the sidelines. I help him warm up before every game. And on Thanksgiving—I was really sick. All the quarterbacks and the coaches went out for dinner…and they didn’t let me come. I was quarantined. They were worried I’d get Peyton sick."
But Betts did say he's learned a thing or two from Manning. And not just how to make a strawberry frappe.
"All jokes aside — it’s such an honor just to watch this man play football every day," Betts said. "By Tuesday morning, when the rest of us are just starting to watch tape on the other teams—he’s already watched the other team’s last five games…twice."
It's been pointed out left and right that Ricky Proehl is the only Colts player who was alive the last time the franchise was in the Super Bowl.
But I think it's far more interesting that Proehl is one of just two non-kickers from the original Nintendo version of "Tecmo Super Bowl" still playing in the NFL.
"You know, the players razz me about that all the time," Proehl said. "They play that video game in the locker room — and they'll use the Cardinals and goof off about the fact that I'm in it.
"Peyton loves giving me #### for being so old. He'll see an old highlight clip and say something like, 'Oh, hey, there's Bert Jones … weren't you guys rookies together?' "
So we begin our tour of the Colts' portion of Media Day by asking Indy center Jeff Saturday on why Peyton Manning is the star of so many TV commercials, and why he’s not in any at all.
“It’s because he’s afraid of us linemen taking all the spotlight away,” Saturday replied. But while Saturday may not be reaping the big Madison Ave. bucks, at least he won't leave Media Day empty-handed. That's because an NFL spokesperson has just handed Saturday a Gatorade and a fee Colts Super Cap hat. He responds, “Ah, I love the Super Bowl. Free Gatorade!”
Saturday also talked about the last time he scored a touchdown before his momentum-shifting score in the AFC Championship.
“Pee Wee Football League," Saturday recalled. "Didn’t score one in high school. Never scored one in college. First one in the pros … And it felt great.”
Like an unstoppable locomotive, the Super Bowl hype machine has officially begun rolling. Miami's alive, and so is the undeniable buzz surrounding Sunday's game. Everywhere you turn, it's Super Bowl. TV, Radio, Print, even PerezHilton.com -- it's focused on the biggest sports week of the year.
What do we call this thing -- The Peyton Express? The Lov-ie Train? Pick one and roll with it. Everything's acceptable this week. No cliché is too hackneyed, no hyperbole too exaggerated. No New York Post style headline ill conceived.
And believe it, by Sunday, you'll have heard them all.
The Bears and Colts arrived in Miami on Sunday and did a few minor press conferences on Monday. No fireworks, no inflammatory statements, no trash talk, no guarantees … yet. Just Rex Grossman in that Belichick-esque hooded sweatshirt, saying the right things to the right questions.
There's also been no C-list comedians barraging backup quarterbacks with senseless questions, sock puppets screaming at coaches in foreign languages, and Maxim cover girls posing for pictures with mascots. No questions asking Tony Dungy and/or Lovie Smith how long they've been black coaches, no Eli chatter for Peyton Manning to address, and not a single punch thrown amongst the members of the media.
That all comes Tuesday. That's right, Media Day is finally here.
If you're not familiar with the set up -- here's what we're looking at:
10:00-11:00 a.m. ET: Chicago Bears -- All players and coaches available to credentialed members of the media.
Podium Guys: Lance Briggs, Thomas Jones, Charles Tillman, Brian Urlacher, Alex Brown, Rex Grossman, Olin Kreutz, Lovie Smith, Bernard Berrian, Devin Hester, Adewale Ogunleye, Mushin Muhammad
11:00 am- 12:00 p.m. ET: Media Buffet Lunch (A horrifying, train wreck of a sight)
12:00pm- 1:00 p.m. ET: Indianapolis Colts -- All players and coaches available to credentialed members of the media.
Podium Guys: Bob Sanders, Dallas Clark, Jeff Saturday, Peyton Manning, Tarik Glenn, Marvin Harrison, Dwight Freeney, Tony Dungy, Cato June, Anthony McFarland, Reggie Wayne, Adam Vinatieri
Anything goes on Media Day. The weird, the wacky, and the foul. It never dissapoints.
Buckle up, folks. This train just keeps on picking up steam.
