The world's media was unleashed on both Super Bowl teams on Monday night and I thought the Kansas City Chiefs, who were up first, and the San Francisco 49ers were relaxed, happy and handled themselves brilliantly.
As I made my way from podium to podium during the course of one-hour sessions with each team, one thing became abundantly clear to me... this game features two headline acts who are at the very top of their game. Two headline acts who are going to be in consideration for greatness if their careers continue on their current trajectories. Two superstars of the NFL who can become all-time legends.
Those two men are Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Players on the Chiefs have clearly been wowed by the physical and leadership skills of Mahomes, while Niners stars are almost in awe of the play-calling abilities of Shanahan, who was labelled as a wizard by several of his players on Monday night.
There will be other stars in this game, of course - and some of them will prove to be unlikely heroes - but, for now, there is much talk in Miami about Mahomes and Shanahan, which could bode well for a high-scoring Super Bowl.
10-Second Takes
The 49ers take pride in their unselfish nature. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and offensive tackle Joe Staley all talked about doing whatever it takes to win. And if that means running 45 times per game, everyone is on board and happy to block or hand off; even the quarterback who threw just eight passes in the NFC title game.
Sammy Watkins told me how Chiefs receivers can never switch off on a play because Mahomes can reach them with the football no matter how far away they might be from their quarterback. He also said if Mahomes catches one of them loafing and thinking the ball is not coming their way, the young passer will often fire it into them just to wake them up!
It was great to catch up with 49ers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who caught a pass in every week of the regular season in 2019, a first in NFL history. Sanders did not have a bye week after being traded from Denver and even started training camp two weeks earlier than most as the Broncos played in the Hall of Fame game. Sanders told me: 'Nobody can top the season I';ve had.'
Super Bowl Fact
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is the seventh head coach in NFL history to lead two different teams to the Super Bowl. His other appearance came with the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 39 (2004 season). Reid has the most wins (221 including the playoffs) by a head coach to not win a Super Bowl or NFL championship.
Quote of the Day - Part 1
'I used to love playing Madden and I played quite a bit in college. But once I started getting killed by second-graders, I quit playing that game.' * - 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.*
Quote of the Day - Part 2
'We have a group of guys where we'll come off to the sidelines and the receivers are screaming, 'We need to run the ball.' You just don't see that every day. It's an unselfish group and a great group to be around.' * - 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on the unselfish nature of the 49ers.*