Super Bowl LVII Opening Night: Chiefs, Eagles meet with the media in downtown Phoenix
Fans line up outside the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix for Super Bowl LVII Opening Night. (Brent Corrado)
PHOENIX - Players from the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles and AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs gathered at the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix on Feb. 6 for Opening Night, kicking off the NFL's biggest week leading to Super Bowl LVII on Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.
The event returned for the first time since 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic forced teams to meet the media on video conferences the past two seasons.
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni (Brent Corrado)
Head coach Nick Sirianni and the Eagles took the stage first. "Fly, Eagles, Fly" chants greeted players and coaches before they spent an hour answering wide-ranging questions from more than 2,000 media members.
For the record, Sirianni loves the Rocky movies. He identifies with Sylvester Stallone’s fictional movie character, who is part of Philadelphia’s fabric as much as the cheesesteak.
"I live and coach in the greatest sports town in America," Sirianni said. "It means so much to everybody there. That’s what you want. When you’re a little kid playing in a peewee football game, you want everybody to see you. You want your fans to love it. You want them to be there. You want them wearing green on Friday. You want them to be throwing snowballs at Santa Claus. You want to put talent on display in front of the greatest sports town in America. I love the fact that my kids are growing up in a sports town where football means so much because football means so much to me."
Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts speaks to the media on Feb. 6 at Super Bowl LVII Opening Night at the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix. (Brent Corrado)
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, an AP NFL MVP finalist, drew the largest crowd in the early portion. Reporters staked out his spot about an hour before the event started. The first question came from Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin, an NFL Network analyst.
"I feel like it’s not a time to reflect," Hurts said about his journey to stardom. "We came here to finish the job."
Other notable Eagles who answered questions from the media include wide receiver A.J. Brown, former Arizona Cardinal Haason Reddick, and Jason Kelce, who happens to be playing against his brother, Travis, in the Super Bowl.
The Kelce brothers' mother, Donna, even took part in some of the festivities, bringing cookies to both of her sons on stage.
After the Eagles answered questions for an hour, it was the Chiefs' turn.
Head coach Andy Reid got numerous questions about his time in Philadelphia and food. The cheeseburger fanatic would not name his favorite city to eat outside of Kansas City, Green Bay and Philly.
"They won’t let you back in if I do," he said.
Reid did say when it comes to burgers, he has simple tastes, just as long as that doesn't include mustard.
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid (Brent Corrado)
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes got one of the loudest ovations of the night.
"The job is not finished," Mahomes said of Super Bowl LVII.
Mahomes and the Chiefs are making their third Super Bowl appearance in the last four years.
The Eagles (16-3) and Chiefs (16-3) meet on Sunday, both aiming for their second Super Bowl title within five years.
MORE: Super Bowl LVII: How to watch, stream the NFL championship game
The Associated Press (AP) contributed to this report.
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