Super Bowl fans are finally delighted with the opening of Super Bowl Opening Night which had a bit of everything on Monday, ranging from funny to serious, and it also included a touching moment by Tom Brady. The hyped event — which once upon a time was just known as “Media Day” — kicked off the weeklong festivities surrounding Super Bowl LI in Houston. The game itself is Sunday at NRG Stadium, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. ET).
For the second consecutive year, coaches and players from both Super Bowl teams answered questions from the media in prime time. Fans who bought tickets for the sold-out event at Minute Maid Park, home of MLB’s Houston Astros, watched and listened on radios as the media interviewed members of the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots.
Both sessions consisted of photo and interview sessions with all players and coaches, the first time these teams met the media in Houston. In between sessions was a performance by rock band X Ambassadors. The event ended with a fireworks display.
Falcon’s wide receiver Julio Jones said. “This is awesome, just to enjoy this, fans coming out and supporting us… it’s great,” “It feels great, the energy is great here, and I’m loving it.”
Back for another year was Austrian sports caster Phillip Hajszan, who estimates he’s worn costumes for this event five times now. This year he dressed up as Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, while his colleague with the camera was in a dress as Empress Elisabeth.
“I think it’s about having fun an event that’s usually just about sports,” Hajszan said. “And it’s not only about sports, it’s about entertainment, it’s about having fun, having a good time, so the people laugh, so it’s not only serious all the time.”
Falcon’s wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, when asked about President Donald Trump recently signing an executive order on immigration and refugees, banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days. He said, “It’s a very tough situation, and I just pray that us as a country and a world can be united as one,” “You know, it is really hard for me to talk about this right now, it would take a lot of time, so I just want to focus on the game and just talk about .”
